In one of the Hillsdale College women's basketball team's best efforts in the 2020-21 season, the Chargers led G-MAC title contender Ohio Dominican 73-72 with 3:20 to play.
Despite their best efforts, however, Hillsdale couldn't quite pull off the upset, falling 87-80 as the Panthers outscored the Chargers 15-7 in the final three minutes of the game.
Ohio Dominican led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but Hillsdale refused to go quietly, pulling ahead late in the fourth quarter on a Sydney Mills 3-pointer.
The Panthers, however, quickly retook the lead on the next possession on a jumper by Angela Troyer, and, when Hillsdale couldn't convert at the other end, ODU freshman Gabby Stare hit a 3-pointer with 2:34 to go to give the Panthers the breathing room they needed to hold on.
Hillsdale trailed 14-7 early, but battled back to lead at the quarter, going up 18-16 on a 3-pointer by senior Jaycie Burger with 11 seconds left in the period.
Another late 3-pointer, this one by freshman Dani Salenbien as time expired in the second quarter, allowed the Chargers to take the lead into halftime as well, 43-40, after a hotly-contested second quarter.
Hillsdale couldn't hold onto that momentum in the third quarter, falling behind 65-52 midway through the period, but managed to rally again to cut the deficit to 65-60 entering the fourth, keeping hopes of an upset alive.
Mills had another huge night for the Chargers, matching her career high set earlier this season with 23 points and also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Another sophomore, Arianna Sysum, broke out of a recent scoring slump with a strong 15 point performance for the Chargers, going 7 of 9 from the floor while also chipping in eight rebounds and two blocks.
Junior Grace Touchette chipped in 14 points, seven assists and three steals as well for the Chargers, freshman Dani Salenbien added eight points and six assists, and junior Lauren Daffenberg hit three 3-pointers off the bench to finish with nine points.
Hillsdale falls to 2-11 overall and in G-MAC play with the loss, and have another challenging week ahead, traveling to 9-5 Tiffin on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip, before returning home to take on Findlay on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Photo by Camryn Olson