In three of Thursday night's four quarters, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team outscored host Kentucky Wesleyan College.
But it wasn't quite enough for the Chargers.
Hillsdale fell to the Panthers in frustrating fashion in Kentucky 71-70. The loss drops the Chargers to 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Hillsdale trailed 19-13 after the first quarter. The team then held scoring edges of 18-15 in the second quarter, 23-22 in the third quarter and 16-15 in the fourth quarter. But despite those advantages, and a hot shooting sequence from senior forward Brittany Gray, the Chargers came up one agonizing point short.
The Chargers were whistled for an offensive foul on their final offensive possession of the game. KWC was whistled for 14 fouls in the game compared to 22 for Hillsdale. The Panthers held an even bigger edge at the free throw line, attempting 26 shots - making 21 - compared to the Chargers' 6-for-7 final game total as a team from the line.
But when it came to the boards, Hillsdale was impressive, outrebounding Kentucky Wesleyan 30-26. The Chargers also connected on 12 3-point baskets, doubling the Panthers' total.
But a key stat from that first quarter was KWC's 12-0 scoring edge in points off turnovers. The Chargers turned the ball over eight times in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Hillsdale cleaned up that part of its game nicely the rest of the way, only committing seven turnovers in the game's last 30 minutes.
Sophomore guard Jaycie Burger hit three 3-point baskets and finished with a season-high 13 points, tying senior guard Allie Dewire for tops on the team. Dewire made all five of her free throws, and was one of just two players on the team to make a trip to the charity stripe.
Gray made four straight 3-point baskets from late in the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth, and finished with 12. Senior forward Makenna Ott had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists for the Chargers.
PHOTO: MaryKate Drews