Very little went right in the second half for the Hillsdale College women's basketball team, who suffered a 63-52 loss at Davis & Elkins College Saturday afternoon in West Virginia.
The loss makes Hillsdale 7-7 overall and 5-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The first half saw the Chargers jump out to the lead late in the first quarter and take command in the second. A last-second layup by senior Brittany Gray gave the team a 31-14 lead at halftime. That shot capped a second quarter that saw the Chargers give up just 4 points to the Senators.
But the second half was a much different story. Davis & Elkins connected on three 3-point baskets and held Hillsdale to just 10 points while forcing eight turnovers in a period that saw the Senators hold a 27-10 scoring advantage.
D&E outscored Hillsdale 14-0 in points off turnovers in that third quarter, and the change of quarters to the fourth did nothing to slow down the home team's momentum.
The Senators made 15 of their 19 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, finishing off a game in which it outscored the Chargers 21-7 from the charity stripe. However, several of those attempts came in the game's waning minutes when Hillsdale was forced to foul in order to try and make up a deficit.
Hillsdale shot just 29 percent from the field for the game (17-for-58) and was 11-for-41 on 3-point attempts.
Gray led Hillsdale with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals while the freshman guard combo of Grace Touchette and Lauren Daffenberg each scored 11. Senior Makenna Ott matched Gray's team-leading total of 9 rebounds while Touchette set a new career-high with 7 assists.
PHOTO: Todd Lancaster