TERRE HAUTE, IND. --
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology clinched a bid to the
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball
Tournament with a 67-49 victory over Mount St. Joseph on
Saturday.
The Fightin' Engineers have earned the No. 6 seed for the conference tournament and will square off against Transylvania University on Friday at 8 p.m. The tournament will be held at Hanover College.
Sophomore Lauren Meadows (Indianapolis/Brebeuf) paced three Engineers in double figures with 18 points. Junior Alisa Dickerson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) added 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Rose-Hulman celebrated senior day for three members of the women's basketball squad, highlighted by 17 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for Donna Marsh (Mobile, Ala./ Baker).
Senior Nicole Klass (Evansville/North) added three points and two rebounds, with Rebecca Bowermaster (Wood River, Ill./Roxana) contributing two points to the effort.
Other key contributors included freshman Heather Finnell (Decatur, Tenn./Cleveland) with seven points and four rebounds; and freshman Kelsey Ploof (Noblesville) with three points and seven rebounds.
Abby LaRosa led Mount St. Joseph with 13 points, and Carolyn Holt added 10 points for the Lions.
Rose-Hulman battled to a 23-21 lead at the half in a battle of strong defenses. In the second half, the score was tied for the 11th time at 39-39, before the Engineers scored nine straight points to take a 48-39 advantage. Marsh scored two layups, Dickerson added three points and Meadows capped the run with a score at the 6:36 mark.
Mount St. Joseph maintained a nine-point deficit at 50-41, before the Engineers went on a 10-2 run to gain a 60-43 lead and secure the victory. Marsh hit two free throws, Meadows scored five straight points and Dickerson buried two free throws to cap the rally.
Rose-Hulman improved to 10-15 on the season and 8-10 in league play with the victory. Mount St. Joseph completed the season at 6-18 overall and 6-12 in conference play.