Rose-Hulman women fall to Manchester

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Manchester University held Rose-Hulman to 34% from the field with a strong defensive effort to earn a 53-40 women's basketball victory at Hulbert Arena on Wednesday night.

Katie Artberburn came off the bench to lead all scorers with 15 points for Manchester.  Janelle Moss added 14 points for the Saprtans.

Junior Lauren Meadows (Indianapolis/Brebeuf) paced the Rose-Hulman offensive attack with 14 points  on 7-14 from the field.  Junior Kelsey Ploof (Noblesville) added a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore Sheree Williams (Bluffton, S.C.) joined freshman Addie Johnson (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) with five points each.  Junior Andi Evers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) provided support with 12 rebounds.

The tight first half battle featured four ties and 10 lead changes in the early going.  The teams battled to tied scores at 7, 10 and 14, before Manchester closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point edge into the break.

In the second half, Manchester pushed the lead to 15 points at 35-20, before Rose-Hulman chipped away with seven straight points to close within 35-27 on a layup by Williams at the 8:03 mark.

Manchester answered with five straight points to hold off the rally and secure the victory.

The Spartans improved to 2-4 on the season and 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, while Rose-Hulman stands 2-3 and 0-2 in conference games.  The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Saturday afternoon at Bluffton University.