TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Late free throws and rebounding helped the Transylvania University women's basketball team pick up a hard fought Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Rose-Hulman Engineers, 53-51 on Saturday. Saturday's win marks Transy's second conference win of the season and pushes the No. 20 Pioneers' win streak to six to open the season.
Transy out-rebounded the engineers 35-31, including a 13-9 margin on the offensive glass en route to picking up the victory. While the Pioneers only shot 68 percent (17-for-25) from the free throw line, they hit four in the final three minutes of the game to seal the victory.
Transylvania entered the locker room with a 23-18 lead over Rose after a closely contested first half. A stingy defense held Rose to just 27 percent shooting on 6-for-22 field goal attempts while forcing 15 Engineer turnovers.
A jump shot by junior guard Katelyn Smith on the Pioneers' opening possession put Transy on the board first and take an early 9-2lead with 13:23 remaining in the first. The Pioneers continued to build their lead and held a 13-4 lead after senior guard Nicole Coffman nailed two free throws after being fouled at the nine minute mark.
The Pioneers kept Rose-Hulman at bay throughout the half through their defensive efforts. Transy took a 10-point lead with 5:11 remaining after Smith knocked down a mid-range jumper. From there, the margin would remain wide as Rose-Hulman never pulled within five points.
Rose-Hulman would open up the second half on a quick 5-0 run and forced a 23-23 tie after Kristen Belyea hit a three-point attempt and Abbie Marshall made a layup. The Pioneers responded with a 7-0 run of their own, however, after baskets from sophomore guard Jordin Fender and two buckets from Coffman.
Another layup from Marshall brought the Pioneer lead back down to five before a foul on senior center Elizabeth Thomas gave Rose-Hulman two free throw attempts. The Engineers would make both and with 13:55 remaining in the game, the Transylvania lead sat at three.
A foul by Rose-Hulman's Carrie Morris sent Fender to the line at the 13:23 mark. Fender sank both free throws to give the Pioneers 32-27 lead. Rose would fight back in the ensuing minutes and after a turnover by Coffman, the Engineers would shrink the Pioneer lead to just one with 10:48 remaining.
Coffman would hit one of two free throws on Transy's next trip down the court, but a jumper from Rose-Hulman's Andi Evers knotted the game at 35 with less than 10 minutes left.
The game would remain close for the remainder of the matchup, with neither team taking a lead bigger than five. The Engineers challenged the Pioneers and with 3:42 remaining, another layup from Marshall would bring the game to a 48-48 tie.
Fender added a free throw at 2:53 to give the Pioneers a two point lead and Rose-Hulman would miss a layup on their next possession and senior forward Kayla Dobson would snatch the defensive rebound before being fouled. Dobson would go to the line and make both of her free throws to give Transy a four point, 53-49 lead with a minute and a half left in the game.
A foul from Smith on the inbounds pass sent Rose to the line, where Belyea hit two free throws and narrowed the margin to two points before defensive pressure from the Pioneers forced a Rose-Hulman turnover with 43 seconds left and Transy took possession clinging to their two -point lead. Head coach Juli Fulks called a timeout to set the Pioneers game plan for the final seconds.
With possession and 14 seconds left to play, the Engineers would call a timeout to set up the offense. After a screen on the wing, Gracie Gibbs would take a jump shot but miss as Smith pulled down the rebound securing the win for the Pioneers.
Fender led the offensive charge for Transylvania, picking up six points on 5-for12 shooting. Two other Pioneers scored in the double figures, Coffman and Smith, who picked up 13 and 11 respectively. Fender also tied for the team-high in rebounds with Smith and Thomas, each of whom pulled down six rebounds for Transylvania.
The win pushes Transy's record to 6-0 to open the season, including a 2-0 mark in HCAC play. The Pioneers, who are averaging 74.8 points per game, will return home Dec. 13 to take on a Defiance team that is allowing just 68 points per game, in HCAC play.