Lexington, Ky. - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a strong defensive effort to pick up a 53-36 victory over the Franklin College women's basketball team in the first round of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament on Friday from Transylvania University.

The Fightin' Engineers held the Grizzlies to 29.2 percent shooting in the contest.

Rose-Hulman led 23-18 after the opening 20 minutes and opened the second half on a 14-7 run to hold a 37-25 lead midway through the period. Franklin would only get as close as eight points over the final eight minutes.

Junior Katie Brewer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) led the Grizzlies with 13 points. Sophomore Lauren DeSutter (Pittsboro, Ind./Tri-West) added 12 points.

Rose-Hulman was led Abbie Marshall with 13 points. Cassidy Cain chipped in 12 points.

Franklin finished third in the HCAC and earned the tournament's No. 3 seed. The Grizzlies went 14-11 during the 2014-15 season – the first season under Head Coach Dana Haggenjos. Friday's game concluded the careers of seniors Brittany Elliott (Waldron, Ind./Waldron), Lindsey Dall (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg), and Nichole Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood).