Before Thursday night's game against Malone, Brittany Gray hadn't recorded a 20-point game yet in her career. In the past two games, she's had two, as she is showing an explosion of shooting skill and confidence, and her team has been the benficiary.
Gray set a career-high in scoring for the second straight game, pumping in 27 points to lead the Hillsdale College women's basketball team to an 87-74 win over Walsh University Saturday afternoon at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. Hillsdale's victory, it's third in a row, makes the team 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
She was far from alone in performing well at the offensive end of the floor in this entertaining and well-played Great Midwest contest. Hillsdale scored a season-high 29 points in the third quarter, breaking open a game that had gone from a big Charger lead to a one-point contest at halftime thanks to a 15-3 half-ending run by the Cavs. Both teams showed good ball movement and shot selection in the game's first half, but Hillsdale was able to pull away in the second half thanks to some cold-blooded shooting from Gray.
By herself, Gray scored 14 points in the third quarter, leading the offense to a 29-17 scoring edge on the Cavs in the quarter, expanding that one-point lead to 13 by the end of the quarter. The teams played end-to-end basketball in the fourth, but Walsh could get no closer to a Hillsdale team that appears to be improving with the flow of its motion offense rapidly.
The Chargers set a season-high for points in the game (87), and outrebounded the Cavs by 19 (45-26) in earning the victory.
Gray made 10 of her first 14 shots from the floor and also set a new career-high with 12 rebounds for Hillsdale, 10 of them coming on the defensive end, which was crucial in limiting Walsh's second-chance opportunities.
Junior Makenna Ott played an expert offensive game and had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. She went 8-for-15 from the field and drained two 3-point baskets. Junior guard Allie Dewire answered the bell by going 9-for-10 from the free throw line, finishing with 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Senior center Allie Dittmer powered her way to 12 points and 8 boards for the Chargers.