CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a strong defensive effort to top Mount St. Joseph 55-36 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

The Fightin' Engineers entered the game ranked No. 19 nationally in scoring defense (50.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (32.6%) and helped their numbers in both categories at Mount St. Joseph.  Rose-Hulman held the Lions to just 36 points and 29.8% shooting from the field to earn its ninth victory of the season.

Offensively, junior Carrie Morris scored 13 points to lead a balanced scoring attack.  Junior Andi Evers tied a season-high with 10 points, and junior Kristen Belyea added nine points.

Other key offensive contributors included sophomore Josie Schmidt with seven points and seven rebounds; and freshman Jordan Hagood with a career-high six points on two three-pointers.

Tara Dennis led the Mount St. Joseph offense with 16 points and eight rebounds.  Meredith Harfiel provided offensive support for the Lions with nine points.

Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 30-14 halftime lead with a balanced offensive attack and holding the Lions to just five first half field goals.

In the second half, Mount St. Joseph closed within 34-22 on a score by Dennis with 15:42 remaining.  Four points from Morris and a rebound basket by Schmidt pushed the lead back to 40-22 in Rose-Hulman's favor.  The Lions were not able to close within single digits during the second half.

Rose-Hulman improved to 9-6 on the season and 5-3 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with its third victory in the last four games.  Mount St. Joseph dropped to 4-11 and 0-8 in league play.  The Fightin' Engineers complete the first half of the conference season with a contest at Hanover on Wednesday night.