Box Score Lexington, Ky. – The No. 6/7 Transylvania women's basketball team used an 18-3 fourth-quarter scoring run to put away the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin' Engineers, 69-55 on Saturday afternoon at the Beck Center.
The upset-minded Engineers battled for the majority of the afternoon against the nationally-ranked Pioneers, staying within two points of the Pioneers with seven minutes to go in regulation before the home team established the defensive clamps to pull away for their 17th consecutive win of the season.
With the win, the Pioneers continued to stay atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings at 14-0 and 20-1 overall. Rose-Hulman dropped to 4-10 in conference play and 5-16 overall as the Pioneers swept the regular-season series.
Veterans Shelby Boyle and Ashton Woodard each posted a game-high 17 points apiece against a challenging shooting afternoon for the Pioneers in which the home team hit on 6 of 28 three-point attempts. Boyle connected on 8 of 17 attempts from the field, adding eight rebounds, one steal, and one block while Woodard shot 60 percent from the floor and finished with four rebounds and two assists.
Transylvania jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the day before the Engineers swung back with seven straight points of their own to slice the Transy lead to one point with 4:19 left in the opening period. Woodard sent in her lone three-pointer of the day with 1:11 left in the first quarter for a six-point Pioneer lead before the Engineers scored on their final possession of the quarter to thin the gap to 15-11.
A three-pointer by Grace Shope put the Pioneers ahead, 29-20 with 2:43 left in the first half to pave the way for a 34-26 halftime lead.
The Engineers outscored the Pioneers 17 to 12 in the third quarter by hitting on 3 of 4 three-point attempts while holding the home team to 33 percent shooting from the floor in the quarter, setting up a three-point game heading into the final quarter of play.
Rose-Hulman came all the way back with a quarter-opening field goal and a 1 for 2 trip at the charity stripe to tie up the Pioneers at 46-all with 9:04 remaining in regulation. Boyle and Woodard each countered with field goals before Rose-Hulman's Hannah Woody scored on a layup at the 7:13 mark to cut the Pioneer lead back to two points.
Woodard and Shope then combined for 10 straight points while the Pioneers held the Engineers to only two points over the following six minutes. Zenoviah Walker capped off a 13-2 Pioneer burst on a 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the game, handing the Pioneers a 63-50 cushion. Transylvania returned the defensive favor to Rose-Hulman, holding the Engineers to 33 percent shooting from the field in the final quarter.
Transylvania received back-to-back scores from Kennedi Stacy and Dasia Thornton to close out the 18-3 run and improve its home record to 9-1 on the season.
Stacy added 10 points off the bench for the Pioneers on 3 for 5 shooting, also providing two steals. Elizabeth Hardiman grabbed eight boards for Transylvania while Miranda Otero corralled seven to help the Pioneers achieve a 42-28 rebounding advantage over the Engineers.
With four games remaining in both the HCAC and overall regular-season schedules, the Pioneers will next play on Wednesday, February 12 at home against the Mount St. Joseph University Lions. Tip-off between Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Beck Center.
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