A unique test was applied to the Hillsdale College women's basketball team Thursday night in Ohio. That test was passed.
The Chargers held off a late rally by Tiffin University to emerge with a 62-59 victory over the Dragons. It was Hillsdale's first road conference win of the season and improves the team to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Tiffin stands at 7-10, 2-4.
A defensive rebound and a jumper by senior Amaka Chikwe gave Hillsdale a 54-46 lead with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter. Up to that point, Hillsdale held a steady lead since early in the second quarter, and did a good job of playing responsibly with the lead.
But that's when Tiffin made its run. The Dragons went on an 11-4 run to close the gap to 1, 58-57, with 1:57 to go. Momentum was clearly on Tiffin's side, and the Dragons were doing a good job at converting shots close to the rim. Playing at home, they were in prime position to get the win. But Hillsdale's defense had something to say about that.
Over the game's final 127 seconds, the Chargers ran clock and held Tiffin to just two field goal attempts, both misses.
Junior guard Jaycie Burger swished a key jump shot that extended Hillsdale's lead from 1 to 3, 60-57, with 1:33 to go. Tiffin scored once more, with 44 seconds left, to make it a one-point game again. A miss by the Dragons resulted in a defensive rebound by Lauren Daffenberg with one second left, preserving the lead for Hillsdale. Daffenberg sank two free throws with less than a second left to seal up the victory.
The Chargers made 10 3-point field goals and held the Dragons to 37 percent shooting from the field. Just as importantly, Hillsdale played effective defense, successfully guarding without fouling. Tiffin was 4-for-8 from the free throw line as a team in the game.
Senior guard Sydney Anderson played a strong second and third quarters and led the Chargers with 17 points and 8 rebounds, going 6-for-11 from the field. Burger had 12 points and 5 rebounds, highlighted by a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers and that huge jump shot late in the game. Daffenberg added 12 points.
Freshman Courtney Krol tacked on 5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in 27 minutes off the bench. Julia Wacker and Grace Touchette each collected a team-high 8 rebounds.
PHOTO: Jim Drews