Nine made 3-point baskets and a plus-18 edge on the boards were the difference in the Hillsdale College women's basketball team dropping a 68-60 decision to Walsh University Thursday night at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
The Chargers suffered just their second home loss of the season, and are now 10-8 overall and 4-7 in the GLIAC.
The Cavs outrebounded the Chargers 44-26, taking away one of Hillsdale's biggest strengths of this season, rebounding margin. Walsh was also able to turn one of its weaknesses – 3-point shooting – into a strength in this game. The Cavs came into the contest ranked 15th in the conference in team 3-point percentage. But Walsh went 9-for-24 from behind the arc, a 37 .6 percent clip, improving on its season average by more than 10 percent.
Four players scored nine or more points for the Chargers, led by 19 from sophomore guard Allie Dewire. She also had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes in the game. Sophomore forward Makenna Ott scored 13, hitting three 3-pointers, and junior Maddy Reed scored 11 with five rebounds. Senior guard Morgan Blair had nine points, three rebounds and three assists.
The teams nearly shot identical percentages from the field (40-39.6), but the Cavs had seven more field goal attempts and nine more offensive rebounds in the contest.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale hosts Tiffin University at 1 p.m. Saturday