It was a day of heavy emotion at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena for Saturday's thrilling women's basketball contest between Hillsdale College and the visiting Lake Superior State University Lakers.
LSSU led the game for more than 37 minutes. But a dramatic 17-4 run over the final eight minutes lifted the Chargers to a 60-57 win over the Lakers. The win, Hillsdale's fifth in a row, makes the team 15-6 overall and 11-6 in conference play. The Chargers will go for their longest winning streak in five years in the bitter cold of Michigan's Upper Peninsula next week, battling nationally ranked Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.
Sophomore guard Morgan Blair picked up a back court steal off Hillsdale's scrambling press defense and converted a layup with 2:17 to play to give the Chargers their first lead of the game, 58-57. Junior Madison Berry, who played some fantastic defense in the game's final eight minutes, helped seal the win with two clutch free throw makes with 25 seconds to go.
Hillsdale played and coached this game with a heavy heart. Lisa Charney, the mother of headcoach Claudette Charney, passed away early Saturday morning. Charney coached the game, and was warmly embraced by her players in the celebration following the comeback win.
The Lakers played a tough, disciplined first half, during which they built a 38-30 lead. LSSU did an excellent job of setting good screens and creating open shots, while keeping the Chargers from gaining much offensive flow.
Hillsdale came out with renewed energy in the second half, quickly putting a 7-2 run on the Lakers to tighten the score. But LSSU kept fighting and eventually rebuilt its lead to 10 points, 53-43, with 8:13 remaining in the game. That's when the rally started.
Berry made three free throws, the third of which came from a technical foul called on the Laker bench. Blair popped in a jump shot on the subsequent possession, and just like that, the 10-point lead became five, and the Chargers had momentum going for the first time all afternoon.
With the offense finding itself for the first time, the Hillsdale defense went into lock-down mode. The Chargers didn't allow the Lakers a single field goal over that final eight-minute stretch of the second half. Freshman Allie Dittmer played a big part down the stretch, making two free throws and making a jumper off a nice set up by Kadie Lowery to cut the lead down further.
Dittmer recorded her first career double double, finishing with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Berry scored 10 off the bench, with 2 assists while Blair led the Chargers with 13 points.
Senior Megan Fogt blocked her only shot of the game on Lake Superior State's third possession. But this block was historic, since it gave Fogt lone possession of first place on Hillsdale College's all-time career blocked shots list. She surpassed Katie Cezat with that block. Fogt now has 139 (and counting) in her incredible career. The moment of her record-breaking block is shown at right.
A highly respected captain and player set
a new school record. A team rallied back from adversity, getting a win for a coach mourning the loss of a parent. The emotions were high and heavy in this game, but the sweet emotion of victory is what will linger for this successful team and coaching staff.
Photos by Sarah Klopfer