February 7, 2013 - Smiles and enthusiastic high-fives were abound on the bench of the Hillsdale College women's basketball team Thursday night, as the Chargers cruised to their most impressive win of this season.
Four weeks after taking a 15-point loss to Tiffin University, Hillsdale turned the tables in most impressive fashion, whipping the Dragons 78-57 Thursday night at Jesse Philips Arena. The Chargers are now 8-11 overall and 5-11 in the GLIAC, and hit the road for a contest against Ohio Dominican University Saturday afternoon.
Six different players scored eight or more points, while five different players grabbed at least six rebounds as Hillsdale put forth a team effort that was marked by energy from the entire lineup at both ends of the court.
Hillsdale never trailed after the opening 90 seconds of the game, and led by at least 10 points in 26 of the game's 40 minutes. It was the most one-sided conference win of the season for the Chargers, which felt even better for the team, since it came to a Tiffin team ranked ahead of them in the GLIAC South Division.
The team didn't need any significant scoring runs, but gradually pulled away throughout the game and prevented the Dragons from ever building any kind of sustained momentum. A big reason for that was Hillsdale's dominance on the boards. The Chargers outrebounded the Dragons 58-35 in the game. The 58 boards was a team season high for Hillsdale.
Sophomore Megan Fogt led the rebounding brigade with a game-high 15, her most in a conference game in her career. She added 11 points and three blocked shots to compile her 11th double-double of the season.
Freshman Sarah Theut engineered a strong finish to the first half for Hillsdale with eight points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. She drained two 3-point shots and converted an offensive rebound for a layup at the first-half buzzer to put the Chargers on top, 42-25 at intermission.
Freshman Kayla Geffert made all four of her 3-point field goal attempts, and finished with 13 points and six rebounds in just 17 minutes on the floor. She nailed two shots from long distance midway through the second half to further pad the Chargers' lead.
Sophomore Brooke Borowski added 12 points and five assists, while junior Angela Bisaro and sophomore Kadie Lowery each scored eight. Lowery hit a big 3-point shot on an out-of-bounds play with one second left on the shot clock in a play that was indicative of how the night went for Hillsdale.
The Chargers held the Dragons to 29 percent shooting in the game, and got 38 points from their bench in the victory.
Photo by Sheridan Markatos