Franklin, Ind. - Fresh off its first-round Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament victory, the Franklin College women's basketball team is now preparing to face Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Friday, February 26, at 8 p.m. in a semifinal matchup at regular-season champion Bluffton University.

The Grizzlies defeated Defiance College 51-42 in the first round on Tuesday at the Spurlock Center.

Franklin, the tournament's No. 3 seed, split its two regular-season meetings with No. 2 seed Rose-Hulman, as both teams won on their respective home floors. The Grizzlies picked up a 48-47 overtime triumph on December 9 in the Spurlock Center. Rose-Hulman recorded a 54-41 victory in Terre Haute on February 3.

Friday's semifinal meeting will be the third consecutive season the two teams have played in the conference tournament. The previous two postseason contests have been in the first round, with Franklin winning in 2014 while Rose-Hulman came out on top last year.

Junior Lauren DeSutter (Pittsboro, Ind./Tri-West) leads the team's offensive attack, averaging 11.9 points per game. She is tops on the team with 60 assists. The guard has recorded a team-high 41 steals.

Senior Katie Brewer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) is averaging 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per contest. The forward has tallied a conference best 50 blocked shots this season.

Junior Kayle Comer (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) has made a team-high 40 three-point field goals and is scoring 9.1 points per outing this season. Classmate Kelsey Smith (Lexington, Ind./Scottsburg) adds 6.6 points to the team's scoring attack. Junior Emily Alfrey (Fairland, Ind./Triton Central) scored a team-high 12 points in the first-round victory over Defiance.

Rose-Hulman shared the regular-season title with Bluffton behind a 16-2 HCAC record. The Fightin' Engineers have won 17 consecutive games and posted a school-record 22 victories (22-3) for the season. Ally Bromenschenkel leads the team in scoring at eight points per game. Josie Schmidt and Brianna Gliesmann are both scoring over seven points per contest.

The winner of Friday's tournament semifinal games will advance to the championship game on Saturday, February 27, at 5 p.m. from Bluffton. The other semifinal contest features top seed Bluffton against No. 4 seed Transylvania University.

Live video and statistics of Friday's game will be available. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter (@FCAthletics). Like the Grizzlies on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinCollegeAthletics), and on Instagram (@fcgrizzlies).