LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a hard-fought performance, the Hanover women's basketball team (17-8 overall) bowed out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament as part of the Championship contest, falling to no. 2 ranked Transylvania 85-58.
 
The duo of junior Taylor Heath (Fairland, Ind.) and sophomore Grace Bezold (Covington, Ky.) garnered all-tournament team honors after an impressive weekend. Heath turned in a career-high 30 points for the Blue and Red on Friday, while Bezold turned in 14 points tonight.
 
Sophomore Katherine Benter (Brownstown, Ind.) led the offensive attack for Hanover this evening with a team-high 19 points.
 
The opening half saw the Panthers give Transylvania all they could handle using a 6-0 run paced by Benter to capture the 10-6 lead. They continued to fire on all cylinders with Heath showing off her range from deep at the 3:36 mark.
 
With the momentum in their favor, Hanover remained all gas as Heath and Bezold netted a one-two punch at the 9:08 mark in the second frame. After giving up a slim run to the Pioneers, the Panthers stampeded with Bezold connecting for four straight points when Benter hit a long range three-pointer capping a 7-0 run. Benter added the final first half dagger at the 2:06 mark propelling HC into the intermission trailing just 38-37.
 
However, Transylvania flipped the script in the second half using a strong third quarter run to capture the 62-42 advantage when Bezold halted the charge. The final frame saw Hanover look to cut into the difference as sophomore Kady Clancy (Scottsburg, Ind.) netted a shot from deep. But the surge wasn't enough with the Pioneers combating the Blue and Red en route to the win.
 
Hanover will await the results of the NCAA Division III selection show for a chance at an at-large bid.