Box Score By: Garrett Ramsey
FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Franklin College women's basketball team brought the regular season to a close on Friday (Feb. 18) night against the Rose-Hulman Engineers.
Playing in front of their home fans for the final time, seniors Destinee Cross and Jessica Nix led the way for Franklin (8-15, 6-10 HCAC) with 15 and 10 points, respectively. But buckets were tough to come by for the Grizzlies all night, as they fell to the Engineers (11-8, 9-5 HCAC) 58-45.
How it Happened
In the first quarter, the Grizzlies got off to a good start and led the Engineers 10-7 through the first six minutes of action. However, things would flip in Rose's favor late in the first quarter, as Franklin struggled to find the basket the rest of the first half. The Grizzlies managed just three more field goals the rest of the half allowing Rose-Hulman to pull away with 38-18 lead going into the break.
The Grizzlies got the second half started off strong, rattling off a 12-4 run to close the gap to 42-30 with four minutes to go in the period. But the Engineer countered with a run of their own to close the quarter and headed into the final frame of the regular season up 54-34. The Grizzlies held Rose to just four fourth quarter points, but couldn't make up all the ground before the final horn.
Inside the Box Score
-The Grizzlies shot 35.3% (18-for-51) from the field with the Engineers shooting 43.4% (23-for-53) on the night.
-Cross recorded her 13th game of the year with double-digit points and ends the season with a team-best 13.8 points per game.
-Nix went 4-for-5 from the floor with a pair of free throws to notch her 11th double digit scoring effort of the year.
-Rebounds were 38-34 in the Engineers' favor.
-Franklin won the turnover battle by a 24-20 count and converted for 17 points off Rose miscues.
Up Next
The 2022 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament tips off on Sunday (Feb. 20) afternoon. Franklin earned the seventh-seed in this year's tournament, and will travel to Ohio to take on second-seeded Bluffton at 3:00 p.m.
