CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a historic defensive performance to defeat Mount St. Joseph 59-23 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball opener for both schools on Saturday afternoon.
The 23 points allowed by Rose-Hulman marks the fewest allowed by the women's basketball team in a conference game in school history. The effort marks the third fewest points allowed by the Fightin' Engineers in any women's game.
Mount St. Joseph was held to just four points in the first half as the Fightin' Engineers built a 37-4 lead at the break. The Lions shot just 21% from the field in the game and were held to one first half field goal.
Rose-Hulman also outrebounded Mount St. Joseph 46-26 and forced 19 turnovers in the victory.
Offensively, all 15 players saw action and 12 players scored for Rose-Hulman. Sophomore Taylor Graham led all scorers with 10 points, and senior Josie Schmidt contributed nine points and seven rebounds.
Other leaders in the balanced offensive effort included junior Alyzia Dilworth and sophomore Mandi Routon with seven points each. Sophomore Abby Bromenschenkel and sophomore Chiarra Franklin scored five points. Junior Lindsey Fagerberg came off the bench to join Schmidt with a team-high seven rebounds.
Taylor Brown led the Mount St. Joseph offense with 10 points.
Rose-Hulman improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in league play with the victory, while Mount St. Joseph dropped to 0-7 and 0-1. The Fightin' Engineers face Franklin in the 2016-17 home opener on Wednesday at Hulbert Arena.
