Capital (Ohio) 61, Franklin (Ind.) 54 [Box Score]

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Capital University held Franklin College scoreless over the final 3:25 in a 61-54 win in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship Friday at The Capital Center in Columbus, Ohio

Capital (26-3) advances to the second round where it will host Hope (Mich.) College, a 71-52 winner over Denison (Ohio) University, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.  Franklin ends its season at 24-5.

The Crusaders survived a furious second half rally by Franklin. Capital extended a 34-24 halftime lead to 12 points on a Jennifer Lilly jumper with 17:33 to play when the Grizzlies went on a 14-6 run over the next six minutes to close within four points, 44-40. Franklin then tied the game at 46 with 7:34 left on a 6-2 surge with all six points coming on a pair of three-pointers by a Lindsey Roberson. Capital would answer with a pair of threes of their own from Kati Todd and Sara Heitkamp then held off the Grizzlies the rest of the way.

Roberson had five three-pointers as part of a game-high 23-point performance to lead Franklin. Jennifer Redicker also had a double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Capital got a team-high 19 points from Heitkamp, 13 points from Todd, while Lilly had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Her 10 points made her the 16th Capital player to score over 1,000 career points.