All season long, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team has been at its best on the road. Saturday afternoon, they played in the whites the way they've played in the blues.
Playing smart defense and aggressive on offense, the Chargers won at home for just the second time this season, defeating Grand Valley State University 73-57 Saturday afternoon at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
The Chargers have already equaled their win total from all of last year, and are 12-6 overall on the season. The team is 8-6 in the GLIAC, and finished a crucial North Division weekend with back-to-back wins. Hillsdale hits the road Monday to face Saginaw Valley State before returning home later next week.
This was the Chargers' first win at home since Dec. 14, and second on the season, compared to the team's 10-1 road record.
The Lakers, now 10-4 in the GLIAC, came into the game as one of the conference's most prolific 3-point shooting teams. But Hillsdale deployed a terrific defense against that, closing out on the GV shooters effectively and not giving them the space they would want in running their offense. The Chargers were able to hold GVSU to 36 percent shooting for the game, and 5-for-22 from beyond the 3-point stripe.
On the other side of the court, the Charger offense got terrific performances from their top three scorers – Megan Fogt, Kadie Lowery and Morgan Blair – who all delivered clutch shots and intelligent half-court play throughout the game.
Hillsdale shot just 39 percent itself for the game, but punished the Lakers on the boards, 48-30, and were plus-eight on offensive rebounds in the victory.
Fogt had a terrific ballgame, finishing with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and one blocked shot. She made 8 of her 9 free throws, helping the team to a sublime 19-for-20 performance from the charity stripe.
Lowery made three 3-point baskets and had 15 with 5 boards and 4 assists. Blair added 13 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in another solid all-around performance.
Junior Kayla Geffert started the game for the Chargers and played smart at both ends, finishing with 9 points and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes. Senior Chelsea Farrell added 4 points, including a crowd-pleasing coast-to-coast layup, a sequence that really energized the Chargers and kept the momentum they built with their good shooting start to the game.