Lexington, Ky. – The No. 9 Transylvania women's basketball team emerged from Wednesday evening as the last remaining undefeated team in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, defeating the Hanover College Panthers 85-68 in a matchup of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the HCAC at the Beck Center.

After weathering Hanover's best shot in the first half, the vaunted Pioneer defense shut down the Panthers in the third quarter, holding the visitors to just two points in the first nine minutes of the half to storm to victory.

Transylvania grew its season-high winning streak to double digits at 10 consecutive victories to move to 13-1 overall and 7-0 in HCAC play for sole possession of first place. Hanover dropped to 7-6 overall and 6-1 in conference play.

Ashton Woodard tallied a game-high 22 points, knocking down 4 of 5 triples and hitting 6 of 11 field goals on the night. The senior connected on all six of her free-throw attempts and added five rebounds, one assist, and one steal in the win.

Three other Pioneers registered double-figure scoring as Zenoviah Walker dished out a career-high eight assists and scored a season-high 18 points. Shelby Boyle provided 18 points, five assists, five rebounds, one block, and one steal on 7-for-13 shooting from the field. Kennedi Stacy led all reserves with 13 points on 5 for 9 shooting from the floor while snaring five rebounds.  

The Panthers began the night shooting 50 percent from the field and used an aggressive transition offense to take the lead midway through the first quarter. Walker connected on a 3-pointer to catalyze a quarter-ending 8-4 run for a 24-21 Transy advantage.

Walker and Woodard began splashing threes to start out the second quarter, pushing the Pioneers to a 35-28 lead with 6:17 remaining in the half. Walker and Boyle each posted baskets before giving way to Kennedi Stacy, whose long-range bucket put the Pioneers ahead 42-33 with 3:13 to go. Walker and Woodard each tossed in one more 3-ball for size to end the half as the Pioneers forged a 50-39 halftime advantage.

The third quarter proved to be the final blow as the Pioneers hounded the Panthers into an over five-minute drought to begin the half. Transylvania outscored Hanover 12-2 over the first nine and a half minutes of the quarter before Hanover ended the quarter with back-to-back scores.

Transylvania scored 14 of 17 points at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to close out the night as Hanover became just the fourth team to score more than 60 points against Transylvania in a high-possession contest. Concurrently, the 85 Pioneer points represented the highest-scoring game of the 2019-20 season for the Pioneers, eclipsing last week's output against Franklin in a 34-point win by one point. On the way to their 7-0 start in HCAC play, the Pioneers have outscored each opponent by at least 13 points. 

Elizabeth Hardiman led a ferocious effort on the glass, posting 10 rebounds to go with four points; the Pioneers outrebounded Hanover 40-26 on the boards, including 13 offensive rebounds which led to 16 second-chance points. Transylvania hit 13 of 28 three-pointers over the entirety of the game while limiting Hanover to a 1 for 7 clip from downtown in the second half. 

The Pioneers will hit the road for a stint of five games away from the Beck Center over a six-game stretch, beginning with Saturday's contest at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. Tip-off between the Pioneers and Engineers is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Hulbert Arena.

For more on Transylvania women's basketball, follow @TUWBX on Twitter