HCAC WBB TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's basketball team capped the 2016-17 regular season with a 72-48 win over Defiance College Saturday afternoon. It was the 12th win in a row for the Fightin' Engineers who improved to 22-3, 17-1 HCAC.
The women got off to a strong start in the first quarter of play taking an early 17-12 lead over the Yellow Jackets. Junior Alyzia Dilworth paced the Fightin' Engineers with six points in the opening frame. Sophomore Jenna Queary gave Rose-Hulman a nice boost off of the bench, adding all four of her points in the first 10 minutes of action.
Rose-Hulman's offense continued to click in the second period as the Fightin' Engineers outscored Defiance 18-14. Senior Josie Schmidt scored 10 of her 17 points in the first half. Rose-Hulman shot 45.7% (16-35) from the floor in the first half. Defiance shot 39.1% (9-23). Rose-Hulman was able to force 10 Defiance turnovers in first 20 minutes of play.
Defiance used a big push to start the third quarter, using an 11-6 run over the first four and a half minutes to trim R-H's lead down to four, 41-37. Rose-Hulman pushed the lead back up to six after a layup from Dilworth. Rose outscored DC by just a point, 16-15, in the third period and took a 51-41 lead into the last 10 minutes of action.
The Fightin' Engineer defense held strong as Rose-Hulman held Defiance without a made field goal for nearly 14 minutes of action in the second half. The Yellow Jackets hit a basket with 7:16 left in the third quarter and did not hit another field goal until the 3:43 mark of the fourth quarter. Rose-Hulman outscored DC 21-7 in the final frame.
For the game RHIT shot 45.3% (29-64) from the floor. The women forced 16 Yellow Jacket turnovers and held Defiance to just 29.8% (14-47) shooting.
Four Engineers scored in double figures. Ally Bromenschenkel posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Schmidt finished with 17 points, five boards, and two blocks. Dilworth added 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Abby Bromenschenkel added 11 points and four rebounds. Overall, 10 different Engineers scored in the contest.
Rose-Hulman will host the Heartland Conference Tournament next weekend which is slated for February 24-25. The Fightin' Engineers will play the winner of Franklin/Hanover on Friday February 24 in Hulbert Arena at 6 p.m.
