BOX SCORE
NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior Alisa Dickerson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) became the ninth member of the women's basketball 1,000-point club to highlight a narrow 46-43 women's basketball loss at Manchester College on Wednesday night.
Dickerson surpassed the 1,000-mark with her seventh point of the night and has now scored 1,014 points in her Rose-Hulman career.
Manchester held a 12-point lead at 39-27 with 5:48 remaining after a score by Laine Mello. Rose-Hulman answered with six straight points to move within 39-33 on two free throws by junior Heather Finnell (Decatur, Tenn./Cleveland) at the 2:50 mark.
The deficit was trimmed to two points at 41-39 on scores by Dickerson at the 1:44 mark and again by Dickerson with 30 seconds left. Manchester hit two free throws, before a Dickerson layup brought Rose-Hulman within 43-41 with 16 seconds left.
Caitlyn Ailor buried two free throws to make Manchester's lead increase to 45-41, but freshman Sheree Williams (Bluffton, S.C.) scored with seven seconds left to bring Rose-Hulman within 45-43.
Abby Schweitzer made one of two free throws to give Manchester a 46-43 lead. The Spartans committed a foul with two seconds remaining to prevent a game-tying three-point try. Williams missed the free throw and Manchester secured the rebound to clinch the victory.
Williams scored eight points with seven rebounds for Rose-Hulman. Finnell joined sophomore Kelsey Ploof (Noblesville) with seven points.
Mello scored a team-high 12 points for Manchester. Erynn Meiklejohn also reached double figures with 10 points for the Spartans.
Manchester improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 0-5. The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. home matchup against Bluffton.