PHOTOS

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's basketball team open HCAC play with a 62-55 win over Manchester on Wednesday night.

The Fightin' Engineers jumped out to an early lead at 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. They would lead 23-20 with 4:09 remaining in the first half, and the team answered with a 13-2 run to take a 36-22 lead heading into the locker room.

The Spartans came out of the locker room and controlled the third quarter as they would cut the lead to five with a 7-1 run to end the period. They would then cut the lead to 3 with 6:28 remaining in the game, the closest the game had been since early in the second quarter.

Rose-Hulman led 55-53 with two minutes remaining in the game, and the Fightin' Engineers were able to seal off the win with near-perfect free throw shooting, going 5-6 in the final minute of action.

Sophia Reese and Jamie Baum led the Fightin' Engineers with 15 points each in the win. Baum just missed a triple-double as she finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 7 steals in the win. Her seven steals finishes just one shy of the Rose-Hulman school record set by Abby Bromenschenkel in a win over Hanover in 2018.

Emilia Diaz had just the second double-digit scoring game of her career as she finished with 10 points in the win.

Emma Schipp added 7 points and 6 rebounds, and Katelyn Fennell contributed 6 points and 7 rebounds.

With the win, Rose-Hulman improves to 2-4 on the season and 1-0 in the HCAC. The team returns to action on Saturday, December 7 as they travel to Bluffton to take on the Beavers at 1 PM.