Terre Haute, Ind. - The Franklin College women's basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit to win a defensive battle 56-53 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action on Wednesday.

The game featured the top two scoring defenses in the HCAC. Rose-Hulman entered the contest allowing 50.8 points per game, while the Grizzlies held opponents to 56.5 points per contest.

Franklin (8-5, 6-1 HCAC) trailed 28-26 after the opening 20 minutes, but opened the second half on an 11-1 run. A basket by senior Nichole Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) gave the visitors a 37-29 lead with 14:53 left in the contest. The forward led three double-figure scorers with 18 points and had nine rebounds.

Later, Franklin took a 41-35 advantage midway through the period following a jumper from sophomore Lauren DeSutter (Pittsboro, Ind./Tri-West). The guard scored 12 points in the game.

Rose-Hulman (8-6, 4-3 HCAC) used a 7-2 spurt to tie the game at 43-43 at the 6:33 mark. The Fightin' Engineers took a 44-43 lead on an Abbie Marshall free throw on the team's next possession.

However, the Grizzlies battled back with a basket by DeSutter and two free throws from Thompson to hold a 47-44 lead with 4:41 left. Three straight free throws from DeSutter pushed the margin to six points, 50-44, with 4:09 remaining.

Franklin's lead got trimmed to 55-53 with 26 seconds left following a layup by Carrie Morris. DeSutter split a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining to give the visitors a 56-53 advantage.

Rose-Hulman's Andi Evers missed a potential game-tying three-point field goal prior to the final horn.

Franklin trailed 16-6 with 8:33 left in the first half. The team closed the final six minutes of the first half on 15-8 run to trail by only two points, 28-26, at intermission.

Sophomore Kayle Comer (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) scored 13 points and made three three-point field goals off the bench. The Grizzlies made 13 of their 18 free throw attempts – all coming in the second half.

Marshall led Rose-Hulman with 11 points.

Franklin returns to action on Saturday, January 17, at 2 p.m. when it travels to Defiance College. Live audio, statistics, and video of the game will be available. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter (@FCAthletics) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinCollegeAthletics).