After an unexpected Saturday and Sunday off, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team is back in action this week with two important conference contests.
First, the Chargers travel to Cedarville on Thursday to take on the red-hot and Great Midwest Athletic Conference-leading Yellow Jackets in another tough road test. Then, Hillsdale returns home on Saturday to host a solid Tiffin squad to wrap up the weekend.
In order to comply with current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services mandates, spectators will not be allowed at Saturday's contest against Tiffin. Fans who want to follow along with the action can do so online via the Great Midwest Digital Network. A webcast for Friday's game is linked below.
Schedule
Hillsdale (1-6, 1-6 G-MAC) at Cedarville (7-1, 7-1 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14 | Callan Athletic Center | Cedarville, OH
Tiffin (4-4, 4-4 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (1-6, 1-6 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Cedarville | Webcast vs Cedarville | Live Stats vs Tiffin | Webcast vs Tiffin
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Cedarville Roster | Tiffin Roster | 2020-21 Hillsdale Stats | 2020-21 Cedarville Stats | 2020-21 Tiffin Stats
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #2 Dani Salenbien, Fr., G, Adrian, MI/Lenawee Christian (5.3 ppg, 2.4 apg); #22 Grace Touchette, Jr., G, Northfield, MN/Northfield (14.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg); #3 Jaycie Burger, Sr., G, Pittsford, MI/Pittsford (11.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.3 apg); #5 Sydney Mills, So., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (8.6 ppg, 11.7 rpg); #15 Arianna Sysum, So., F, Eaton Rapids, MI/Eaton Rapids (11.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg)
Cedarville: #5 Ashlyn Huffman, Sr., G, Columbus, IN/North (19.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 5.9 apg); #0 Emily Chapman, Jr., G, Proctorville, OH/Fairland (14.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg); #24 Allison Mader, G, Jr. Tipp City, OH/Tippecanoe (13.1 ppg, 3 rpg); #11 Isabelle Bolender, G, So. Cedarville, OH/Cedarville (12.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg); #44 Lexi Moore, Jr., F, Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek (4.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.5 spg)
Tiffin: #2 Aarion Nichols, Jr., G, Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights (16.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.1 spg); #10 Savanah Richards, So., Findlay, OH/Liberty-Benton (14.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.8 apg); #23 Jada Tate, So., Pickerington, OH/Central (8.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg); #21 Jensen Hiegel, Sr., Findlay, OH/Liberty-Benton (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg); #24 Kirsten Williams, So., Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek (6.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2 spg).
Scouting the Opposition
Cedarville: The Yellow Jackets have been a perennial title contender in the G-MAC since the founding of the league, and won the tournament title in 2014-15. The 2020-21 Cedarville team is no different, standing alone atop the G-MAC standings just over a third of the way through the season.
The Yellow Jackets are there thanks to a league-leading offense that's averaging 86.5 points per game, four points more than the second-best squad. Cedarville's offensive success is built heavily on its 3-point prowess – the Yellow Jackets have made 89 3-pointers, 13 more than the next closest conference squad, and are shooting an astounding 44.3% from deep.
Four players are averaging double-figures for the Yellow Jackets and five have 10 or more 3-pointers on the season, as Cedarville's ability to spread the floor with shooters has been too much for most defenses to handle. The Yellow Jackets' only loss came in a 95-92 shootout against Ohio Dominican in the first game of the season.
Coaching Cedarville is Kari Hoffman, an alum and former player for the Yellowjackets who's entering her fifth season in charge. The 2017-18 G-MAC Coach of the Year has guided Cedarville to a 94-33 record during her tenure and has never won fewer than 19 games in a season.
Tiffin: A year after making it into the G-MAC tournament for the first time since joining the conference, the Dragons are off to a solid start in 2020-21, going 4-4 through eight games with five with single-digit margins in those contests.
Tiffin is led by two standout guards – returning All-G-MAC second-teamer Aarion Nichols, who's leading the Dragons in scoring and rebounding, and sophomore Savanah Richards, who's up to 14.3 points per game after a strong freshman campaign in 2019-20.
What's carried the Dragons so far is its strong defense. Tiffin is conceding just 69 points per game, one of only two teams in the G-MAC to give up less than 70 per contest. That's helped make up for an offense that's been the second least productive in the conference through eight contests at 65 points per game.
Tiffin is coached by Miriam Justinger, who took over as the interim head coach for the Dragons this fall after spending two years as an assistant. Prior to her time at Tiffin, Justinger was an assistant at Seton Hill. She also played college basketball at Bowling Green St. before starting her coaching career.
Scouting Hillsdale
Despite the record, the Chargers are trending in the right direction following a week that saw them pick up their first victory of the season, and hang tough with Walsh deep into the fourth quarter less than a month after losing to the Cavaliers by 35 on the road.
Key to Hillsdale's improvement has been a better effort at the defensive end. The Chargers were last in the G-MAC in scoring defense through the first five games of the season, but two straight strong efforts have Hillsdale moving back toward the middle of the pack in the conference and closer to contention for a G-MAC tournament berth.
The Chargers have strong starting guards in Grace Touchette and Jaycie Burger, and have developed a good starting combination in the post with the improvement of Sydney Mills and the emergence of Arianna Sysum as a scoring threat after barely seeing the floor in 2019-20.
Freshman guard Dani Salenbien is starting to settle into a starting role, with 10 assists in her last three games, and junior guard Lauren Daffenberg provides shooting ability and instant offense off the bench as the team's sixth man.
The Chargers are coached by Charlie Averkamp, who's in his first year with the Hillsdale program after an excellent four-year run at Division III Benedictine University. His staff includes Amanda Parker, the former head coach at Division III Dominican University, former Williams College player Angela Vecchiarelli, and former Wisconsin Parkside player Hayley Maystead.
Other Notes
- Cedarville has a 4-2 edge in the all-time series with Hillsdale, including a 66-53 win over the Chargers last season on Feb. 20, 2020. Hillsdale's last win came on Feb. 2, 2019, in a 72-66 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
- The Chargers lead the all-time series with Tiffin 19-8, dating back to the two teams' first meeting in the 1993-94 season. The two teams split their meetings last season, with Hillsdale winning a 62-59 contest on Jan. 9, 2020 and Tiffin earning an 80-73 victory on Feb. 13, 2020.
- Lauren Daffenberg now has 136 3-pointers for her career, surpassing the 135 put up by Liz Cibor from 1998 to 2002 and moving her into sole possession of eighth place on the Chargers' all-time 3-pointers made list. Mary Wiesen (1999-03) is seventh on the list with 144 career 3-pointers.
- Senior Jaycie Burger is closing in on the Chargers' top 10 all-time made 3-pointers list as well. With 126 career 3-pointers, Burger needs three 3-pointers to surpass Lea Jones's 128 and move into 10th all time. Burger has hit 19 3-point attempts this year at a G-MAC-leading 46.3% clip that's also sixth in all of Division II among players with more than 20 3-point attempts.
- With 11.7 rebounds per game this season, sophomore Sydney Mills continues to lead the G-MAC in rebounds per game by a full rebound over the next closest player, Walsh's Mayci Sales.