BLUFFTON, Ohio -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology women's basketball team drops their first conference game of the season with a 70-54 road loss to the Bluffton Beavers on Saturday afternoon.

Bluffton took the lead early, and they were able to hold a two-possession lead for the entire first half as Rose-Hulman was unable to cut the lead lower than four for the entire half. The Beavers would take a 32-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Fightin' Engineers ramped up their defensive effort and cut down on their turnovers on the offensive to end to cut into the Bluffton lead. Rose-Hulman went on an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the quarter at 41-40 as an Emilia Diaz layup gave Rose-Hulman their first lead of the entire game with 1:52 to go in the quarter.

Bluffton answered that run with a 21-0 run of their own over the next 7:27 of the game to stretch their lead back to 20, and the Beavers would hold on for the 70-54 victory.

Jamie Baum led the team with her 14th career 20-point game and her fourth 20-point game of the season as she added 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a pair of steals, leading the team in each of those categories.

María Godoy-Rodriguez added a career-high 12 points for her first-career game in double figures, and Emma Schipp also added 10 points in the loss.

With the loss, Rose-Hulman falls to 2-5 on the season and 1-1 in the HCAC. The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Wednesday, December 11 as they travel to Greenville to battle the Panthers in non-conference action at 5:30 PM CT.