The Hillsdale College women's basketball team outscored Mercyhurst University 29-15 in the fourth quarter of a fun, dramatic 69-63 victory Monday afternoon at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
The win, the Chargers' second in a row, makes the team 4-7 overall.
In this matchup of former GLIAC rivals, the Chargers erased an eight-point deficit heading into the final quarter. They did it, in part, thanks to the return from injury of sophomore guard Grace Touchette, who played like she hadn't missed any time at all. Touchette not only led all players in the game with 21 points, but she did a great job of commanding the floor and getting the Chargers into good shots in their half-court offense. She played with quickness and aggression and showed little rust from the handful of games she missed leading up to this one.
The Lakers held a 57-45 lead with 6:19 to go in the game, but the Chargers quickly found their offensive rhythm, and ended the game on a 24-6 run, a remarkable scoring advantage, given how little time it took to build that advantage.
Mercyhurst missed nine free throws in the game, four of them over the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. Those were crucial misses, considering how Hillsdale heated up on offense to tighen the gap. Sophomore Lauren Daffenberg hit a 3-pointer to make it 60-54 with 3:31 to go. After a Touchette jumper, Daffenberg hit a pullu-J to make it 61-58 with 2:04 to go.
Touchette then swished a 3-pointer from the right side to tue the game up at 61 with 1:32 to go. After a Mercyhurst basket, Daffenberg made a heads-up defensive play near half court, poicking up a steal then going the distance for a three-point play. The layup and made free throw gave Hillsdale the lead for good, 64-63, with 38 seconds to go.
The Charger defense came up with two big stops in the final minute of play. The Lakers came up short on a pair of layup attempts, but Amaka Chikwe and Sydney Anderson grabbed defensive rebounds off those two misses, preventing the Lakers from additional attempts at the basket. Touchette and Daffenberg made free throws in the waning seconds to complete the comeback.
Touchette had a pair of rebounds and assists to go along with her 21 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Daffenberg heated up late and finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Sophomore Anna LoMonaco had an impressive stretch of action in the third quarter, and she finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Hillsdale cut 2 points off its halftime deficit in that third, thanks in large part to the controlled and productive play of LoMonaco.
Junior Jaycie Burger finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and freshman Sydney Mills snagged a team-high 7 rebounds in the win.
PHOTO: Camryn Olson