Deep in the heart of Texas, the Charger women's basketball team opened its 2013-14 season with an 80-70 loss to host St. Edward's Friday night in Austin.
Hillsdale, 0-1, returns to action Saturday afternoon at 5:00 Eastern Standard Time against Central Oklahoma in a game also played in Austin, Texas.
Turnovers were costly for the Chargers. They committed 32 of them in the game, compared to 19 for St. Edward's. The turnover margin helped erase Hillsdale's 44-37 edge on the boards and a 10 percent edge in field goal shooting in the game (41-31).
St. Edward's built a nine-point halftime lead (41-32) and made it stand throughout the second half. The host school shot 47 free throws in the game, making 39 of them, a huge number for any point in the season. Three of Hillsdale's players fouled out in the game.
Senior guard Marissa DeMott missed the tail end of last year, but showed no rust in opening her final season with a bang, leading all scorers with 24 points in the contest. She drained six 3-point shots and made more than 50 percent of her attempts from behind the arc. She also picked up three steals in 33 minutes on the floor.
Junior forward Megan Fogt had a monster game inside for the Chargers with 15 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. Seventeen of her boads came on the defensive end. That number was just one short of her previous career high in total rebounds in an entire game. It was the first 20-rebound game by a Charger player since Katie Cezat, who had 21 against Northern Michigan on Feb. 19, 2009.
Sophomore Sarah Theut made a nice impact on the game with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. Senior Angela Bisaro and sophomore Ashlyn Landherr each had four assists, while Bisaro picked up four steals.