TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's basketball team won their home opener Wednesday night against the Franklin College Grizzlies by a final score of 56-48.
The Fightin' Engineers, playing in their first home game of the 2016-2017 season, raced out to an early lead scoring the game's first 18 points. At the end of the first period RHIT held a 20-6 advantage over their HCAC foe.
The Grizzlies came to life in the second period and cut into Rose's lead trailing by just five, 24-19, with 1:37 left to play in the 2nd quarter. Heading into the locker room at halftime Rose-Hulman held a 28-19 lead.
In the 3rd quarter Franklin crept back to within four points at 30-26 but the Fightin' Engineers used a 6-0 run to push their lead back to 10, 36-26. After trading baskets for the remainder of the period Rose-Hulman scored a couple of buckets at the end of the period, including a buzzer-beating layup by Alyzia Dilworth. Rose-Hulman led 44-32 heading into the final period of play.
Play in the 4th quarter got increasingly physical and both teams used aggressive defense to force a handful of turnovers. With 1:55 remaining Franklin's Sarah Taylor made a pair of free throws to draw the Grizzlies within seven at 55-48, however the Grizzlies would not get any closer.
Rose-Hulman had three players reach double figures in the scoring column. Abby Bromenschenkel led all scorers with a game-high 14 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Ally Bromenschenkel scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots. Taylor Graham scored 12 points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Fightin' Engineers, she went 7-8 from the charity stripe. Chiarra Franklin provided support on the boards with a season-high 11 rebounds.
The win improved Rose-Hulman's overall record to 6-2 and 2-0 in Heartland Conference play. Franklin fell to 3-4 (1-1 HCAC). Rose-Hulman will be back in action on Saturday December 10 when the Fightin' Engineers play host to #19 Bluffton University. Tipoff from inside Hulbert Arena is set for 1 p.m.
