Women's Hoops Defeated by Rose-Hulman (Ind.)

DEFIANCE, OHIO – The Defiance College women's basketball team hosted Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play and fell to the Fightin' Engineers by a final score of 75-53.

Juniors Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) and Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) led the Yellow Jacket offense with game-tying high 14 points. Williams went four-of-six from the arch, while Tietje shot three-of-12 from the field and went eight-of-nine from the free-throw line. Freshman Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) was the only other Yellow Jacket to score in double-digits with 12 points (four-of-11 shooting).

Rose-Hulman (Ind.) (12-3, 6-2 HCAC) began the game with a quick three-pointer just a few seconds into the game to take an early 3-0 lead over Defiance (3-12, 2-6 HCAC). The Yellow Jackets answered back with back-to-back buckets from Tietje and Ervin to allow Defiance to take their first lead of the game, 4-3. Defiance led by as many as three points after a jumper from junior Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) at the 3:54 minute mark, 8-5. Momentum shifted in favor of the Fightin' Engineers and they ended the quarter ahead by one point, 13-12, after the first 10 minutes.

Ervin began the second quarter for DC with a basket off an assist from sophomore Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) to put the Yellow Jackets back ahead, 14-13. Rose-Hulman then went on a 6-0 run before Tietje capitalized on a free-throw with 4:24 left on the clock, 19-15.  Back-and-forth baskets ended the half, but Defiance would trail by five points, 25-20, at the break.

In the third quarter, Defiance tried to chip away at the Fightin' Engineer's lead and pulled to within a point at the 8:04 minute mark after a triple from Williams, 28-27. The Engineers answered with a 17-2 run to boost their lead to 14 points, 44-30, with 4:57 left to play. The Yellow Jackets went on a mini 6-0 run of their own to narrow the gap to eight points, 44-36 at the 3:14 minute mark. Eight points was the closest the Yellow Jackets got however, as the quarter ended with the Yellow Jackets down 56-41.

Williams began the fourth with a jumper to add two points, 56-43 with 8:21 left to play. Despite efforts from the Yellow Jackets, they were unable to erase the deficit and fell to the Engineers by the final of 75-53.

Defiance will look to get back on the winning track when they host HCAC-rival Bluffton University on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The game will be a part of a basketball doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket men's team. The women's game will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the men at 8 p.m.