The Hillsdale College women's basketball team remained undefeated at home thanks to a superlative effort Saturday afternoon.
Playing with effort, confidence and smarts, the Chargers pulled away with a 75-63 win over Ferris State University at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The win, Hillsdale's second in a row, improves the team to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the GLIAC.
The Bulldogs trailed by six entering the fourth quarter, and tied the game at 58 with 5:07 remaining in the game. But Hillsdale upped its level of play at both ends of the court, and finished the game on a 17-5 run. After the game was tied, Hillsdale scored points on four of its next five possessions while holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for more than four minutes down the stretch.
As impressive as Thursday's win over 16th-ranked Grand Valley State was, Saturday's victory over the Bulldogs was in many ways even better. The Chargers were aggressive with good spacing and ball movement on offense, particularly in the fourth quarter when they outscored Ferris State 24-15, shaking loose of FSU after much of the game was closely played. Defensively, Hillsdale again did a superior job on the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 45-36. Hillsdale forced 20 turnovers, and coupled with 17 offensive rebounds, the team was able to take 16 more field goal attempts than the Bulldogs, a key stat as the game flowed.
One of Hillsdale's most aggressive players was sophomore guard Allie Dewire, who forced the issue on the Bulldog defense the entire game. She tied her career high with 17 points, shooting a tidy 8-for-13 from the field, and had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in just 25 minutes.
Also finding a groove offensively was sophomore forward Makenna Ott, who led the Chargers in scoring with 18. She was also a factor on defense, getting 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals.
Junior Maddy Reed set a career-high with 5 steals, helping the Chargers to a season-high 15 swipes. Reed added 12 points and 6 rebounds to Hillsdale's winning effort. Senior Morgan Blair, who played against her younger sister Riley, finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior Allie Dittmer had a strong third quarter, and had 7 points and 8 rebounds in just 18 minutes on the floor.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale plays at Michigan Tech at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
PHOTO CREDIT: Carly Gouge