Box Score

FRANKLIN, Ind. - Transylvania held Defiance to 27 percemt shooting from the field Friday and advanced to the semifinals of the Heartland Conference women's basketball tournament with a 57-42 win at Franklin College.

The Pioneers (14-12) came into the contest as the tourney's No. 4 seed while the Yellow Jackets (11-15) were the fifth seed. The Pioneers will take on conference champion Franklin (23-2) in the semi-final round at 3 p.m. Saturday. The HCAC Championship game is set for 2 p.m. Sunday.

The win was No. 501 for Transy coach Greg Todd. He posted a 391-80 mark over 14 seasons as a high school coach at Berea and Lexington Catholic and has 110 more in six years at Transy. He reached the 500-win milestone in the Pioneers' 73-69 victory over Bluffton last Saturday.

Transy defeated Defiance for the third time this season, getting 22 points (on nine of 11 shooting), two steals, and two rebounds from first-year guard Nicole Coffman. Alex McKenzie had her fourth double double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It was her second game in a row with double figures in both scoring and rebounds and the dozen boards tied her career high.

Transy connected on 48 percent of its field goal tries in the first half and forged a 34-26 lead after falling behind early. Defiance shot just 38 percent in the first half, but fell to a dismal 18 percent (7 of 38) in the last 20 minutes. That included a nothing for 12 effort from three-point range.

The Pioneers finished shooting 17 of 46 (45.7 percent) and was 13 of 25 from the free throw line compared to six of 14 for the Yellow Jackets.

Terra Lucas had six points and four rebounds for the Pioneers while Kayla Dobson added seven boards.

Erica King had 11 points for Defiance and Hannah Harshman added eight. 

Transy will face the HCAC's top team on Saturday. The Grizzlies tied Hanover for the regular season championship, but earned the top seed with two wins over the Panthers. Franklin is ranked No. 15 in the nation by D3hoops.com.