Wayne State's Shannon Wilson made a layup at the buzzer to send the Hillsdale College women's basketball team to a 74-73 loss to the Warriors in a dramatic Saturday afternoon contest in Detroit.
The loss drops Hillsdale to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in the GLIAC.
Wilson's shot capped a wild final minute, where each team took, and blew, two leads. Clutch free throws were made by both teams, including a pair by sophomore guard Allie Dewire, the last two putting the Chargers ahead 73-72 with 7 seconds to go. Dewire finished the game setting career-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (8).
Both teams had stretches where they controlled play. The Warriors led by as many as 11 in the second quarter before a 10-2 Charger run tightened the game by halftime. In the third quarter, Hillsdale heated up from 3-point land, led by three makes from senior guard Morgan Blair, and led by as many as seven at one point. Wayne State countered with an 11-4 run to close it up again, and the fourth quarter was as tightly played as could be.
In the fourth quarter alone, the game was tied four times and featured five lead changes.
Hillsdale outrebounded Wayne State 38-31 and shot better from the field, 45.9 percent to 44.1 percent. The Chargers also had nine-point advantages in points off turnovers and second-chance points. However, the Warriors outscored the Chargers by six from the free throw line, going 17-for-19 while Hillsdale was just 11-for-18 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore forward Makenna Ott led Hillsdale's charge in the third quarter, and scored a season-high 19 points. Junior Maddy Reed had another terrific game on the boards, grabbing 10 total rebounds including five on the offensive end. She also scored 9. Blair scored 10 and sophomore Brittany Gray had 8 off the bench.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale hosts Grand Valley State at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Chargers' GLIAC home opener.