Less than a month after suffering a 35-point road blowout at the hands of defending G-MAC champion Walsh, the Hillsdale College women's basketball pushed the visiting Cavaliers to the brink on Thursday night.
The Chargers held Walsh to its lowest point total of the season and trailed just 54-49 with five minutes to play in the contest.
And while Hillsdale couldn't pull ahead and finish off the upset, the 63-54 loss to the Cavaliers is a sign of how far the Chargers have come in a month's worth of games under new coach Charlie Averkamp.
Hillsdale's defense, at one point the worst scoring defense in the G-MAC, held Walsh to just 34.8 percent shooting from the floor and forced the Cavaliers into 18 turnovers to keep the game competitive.
Sophomore forward Sydney Mills had a huge night for the Chargers, knocking down two first half 3-pointers and finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Hillsdale, and freshman Dani Salenbien chipped in 10 points as well.
Junior Grace Touchette filled up the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds and four assists as well for the Chargers, Lauren Daffenberg added eight points off the bench, and Arianna Sysum chipped in seven points and five rebounds.
Walsh opened the game on a 7-0 run that included three Charger turnovers, and looked like they might run away with the game again four minutes in. But as Hillsdale settled in, the Chargers battled back, briefly taking a 12-11 lead with 1:53 to play in the first quarter.
From there, the game remained close throughout. Walsh pushed their lead to double digits multiple times and led by eight at the half, but were unable to put the Chargers away until the final minutes, outscoring the Chargers 9-3 down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
Walsh won the game on the boards, using its size advantage inside to outrebound the Chargers 50-34, and outscore them 14-5 in second-chance points -- exactly the margin of victory on the night.
The schedule doesn't lighten up for the Chargers (1-6, 1-5 G-MAC) next week, as Hillsdale next plays G-MAC leader Cedarville at Cedarville on Thursday, Jan. 14. Hillsdale then returns home on Saturday, Jan. 16 to take on Tiffin in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
Photo by Camryn Olson