The last of four straight road games to open the season did not go the way the Hillsdale College women's basketball team hoped it would Sunday night in Big Rapids.
The Chargers led by 9 at halftime, but ended up losing a frustrating non-league contest to Ferris State, 82-78 in overtime. The loss drops Hillsdale to 2-2 on the season. The Chargers will finally get home and host Wayne State University at 3 p.m. Saturday.
In the third quarter, the Chargers appeared to be in full control of the game and held a 50-37 lead. But Ferris State stormed back with a 12-1 run to make it a close game once again. The Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the lead and ultimately tied the game at 72 with a late 3-point field goal to force overtime.
Hillsdale led briefly, 74-72 to open overtime, but Ferris State scored 6 straight to take the lead for good. The Bulldogs did a good job of converting opportunities they got via Charger turnovers. Hillsdale turned the ball over 31 times in the game, giving the Bulldogs extra chances to close the gap, and in overtime, to extend the lead until it pulled out the victory.
The loss spoiled a pair of career-high offensive performances for two of Hillsdale's starters. Senior center Allie Dittmer tied her career-high in scoring, finishing with 29 points on 13-for-16 shooting from the field. Her 13 made field goals are the third-most in a game in school history. She also pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out 4 assists in the game.
Junior Brittany Gray hit a 3-point basket to put Hillsdale up 72-69 late in regulation, and that shot gave her a new career-high in scoring. Gray had 17 points and also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, picking up her first career double-double.
Junior Makenna Ott added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 4-for-8 shooting, and senior Maddy Reed scooped up 10 rebounds and handed out 6 assists.