As the Hillsdale College women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, two junior forwards stepped up to lead the Chargers back into the postseason.
Junior forward Chelsea Farrell easily set new career-highs with 22 points and 9 rebounds, while junior forward Megan Fogt had another monster game with 18 points and 19 rebounds as the Chargers defeated Walsh University 75-63 before a big, loud crowd at the Hillsdale College Arena.
After one season outside of the GLIAC Tournament, the Chargers clinched a spot in the postseason with this victory. Hillsdale is now 12-13 overall and 11-10 in the GLIAC, and plays the final home game of the regular season at 6 p.m. Thursday against the University of Findlay.
Farrell was simply phenomenal in this game, going 9-for-13 from the floor to account for her 22 points, which bested her previous career-high by 10. She also had 2 assists and a steal in 20 minutes off the bench. She effectively used the combination of her length and ability to hit outside shots that made her a threat to score all over the court. Much of Farrell's damage came in the second half, when the Chargers were trying to hold off the hard-charging Cavaliers.
Fourteen of Farrell's 22 points came in the second half, and came in just 11 minutes on the floor.
Fogt turned in another brilliant performance, going 8-for-9 from the field, while blocking 6 shots, one shy of her career-best. The team struggled getting Fogt the ball early in the game, when Walsh jumped out to an 11-2 lead. But Fogt's teammates did a terrific job of finding Fogt for transition points, and that seemed to energize the entire team, in addition to Fogt, the nation's top rebounder.
The Cavaliers held a huge advantage at the free throw line, outscoring Hillsdale 31-10 from the charity stripe. But the Chargers made up for it thanks to their dominance on the boards, outrebounding Walsh 56-36 in the game. Walsh also shot just 25 percent from the floor in the entire game, making just 15 field goals as a team, compared to 31 for Hillsdale.
Junior Kadie Lowery and senior Allyson Lloyd each scored 9, with Lloyd's total representing a career-high. Lloyd gave them team some excellent minutes in her first career start, as she also had 2 assists and provided the team with some interior toughness during her time on the floor.