There's no denying the Hillsdale College women's basketball team has improved over the course of the season.
But the Chargers are still looking to translate that growth into tangible results on the court in terms of wins and losses.
Hillsdale has had several chances to pull upsets against top competition this season that have come up just short -- and they'll get two more chances this week against teams that are in the top half of the G-MAC standings, but who the Chargers had close battles with earlier in the year.
While complying with MDHHS orders, Hillsdale College is now allowing a limited number of fans to attend games at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena for the remainder of the season. You can find more details at this link, and you can also find links to ticket pages for each game below. Tickets will not go on sale until 24 hours before tip-off of each game, and each ticket is only good for the men's game on that day. A separate ticket will have to be purchased to attend the women's game prior to the men's contest.
You can also follow along with all the action on the Great Midwest Digital Network. Links to both live stats and the streaming webcast for each game are below.
Schedule
Hillsdale (2-11, 2-11 G-MAC) at Tiffin (9-5, 9-5 G-MAC | 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Feb. 3| Gillmor Student Center| Tiffin, OH
Findlay (8-7, 8-7 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (2-11, 2-11 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 6 | | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Tiffin | Webcast vs Tiffin | Live Stats vs Findlay | Webcast vs Findlay | Tickets vs Findlay
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Tiffin Roster | Findlay Roster | 2020-21 Hillsdale Stats | 2020-21 Tiffin Stats | 2020-21 Findlay Stats
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #2 Dani Salenbien, Fr., G, Adrian, MI/Lenawee Christian (5.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.8 apg); #22 Grace Touchette, Jr., G, Northfield, MN/Northfield (14.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.6 apg); #3 Jaycie Burger, Sr., G, Pittsford, MI/Pittsford (9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.6 apg); #5 Sydney Mills, So., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (11.5 ppg, 10.9 rpg); #15 Arianna Sysum, So., F, Eaton Rapids, MI/Eaton Rapids (9.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1 bpg)
Tiffin: #2 Aarion Nichols, Jr., G, Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights (14.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.8 spg); #10 Savanah Richards, So., Findlay, OH/Liberty-Benton (14.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.5 spg); #23 Jada Tate, So., Pickerington, OH/Central (10.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg); #21 Jensen Hiegel, Sr., Findlay, OH/Liberty-Benton (7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg); #24 Kirsten Williams, So., Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek (6.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.6 spg).
Findlay: #23 Sydney Kin, Jr., F/C, Carey, OH/Carey (23.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.5 bpg); #13 Bridget Landin, Jr., F, Ottoville, OH/Ottoville (14.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg); #2 Amber Schweiger, Jr., G Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin (11.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, 2.4 spg); #3 Allison Utterback, Sr., G Greenwood, IN/Center Grove, Lewis University (8.3 ppg); #31 Rachel Cooke, So., G/F, Thornville, OH/Sheridan (6 ppg, 2.6 rpg).
Scouting the Opposition
Tiffin: The Dragons have been one of the toughest teams in the G-MAC in recent weeks, going 5-1 after a 4-4 start to play themselves into contention to host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament.
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 14.6 points per game after a strong freshman campaign in 2019-20.
What's carried the Dragons so far is strong defense. Tiffin is conceding just 63.4 points per game, the best mark in the league by nearly three points. That's helped make up for an offense that's been the third least productive in the conference through 13 contests at 66.3 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.
Findlay: The Oilers, picked to finish fourth in the G-MAC preseason coaches poll, have had an up-and-down season but remain dangerous at 8-7 and in sixth place in the standings entering this week.
Findlay's offense is built around 6-foot-3 center Sydney Kin, the conference's leading scorer at 23.3 points per game and the current front-runner for Player of the Year honors. She's part of an imposing frontline that also includes forward Bridget Landin, who averages 14.5 points per game and is an inside-outside threat.
The Oilers have one of the best offenses in the G-MAC, at 80.7 points per game, and that's helped keep Findlay in the top half of the conference standings. But defensive issues have kept the Oilers from truly breaking through and joining the conference title race – Findlay is conceding 76.9 points per game, in the bottom half of the G-MAC.
Findlay is coached by Jim Wiedie, who is entering his eighth year in charge of the Oilers, with a 115-81 record during that time. He's guided the Oilers to five winning seasons in the last six years, including an NCAA DII tournament appearance in 2017-18.
Scouting Hillsdale
The Chargers played one of their best games of the season on Saturday against G-MAC title contender Ohio Dominican, but came up short. At 2-11, Hillsdale is still looking for a breakthrough moment on the court to match the improvement they've shown in the past month.
Always a strong rebounder, sophomore Sydney Mills has asserted herself as a scorer with double-figure nights in each of the last seven games, and is looking like an all-conference caliber player. Paired with the consistent production of junior guard Grace Touchette, Mills has helped the Chargers make big strides offensively in the past few weeks.
In other areas, too, the Chargers are showing improvement. The center platoon of Arianna Sysum and Anna LoMonaco continues to bear fruit, with both players seeing extended time after limited roles in 2019-20, and junior Lauren Daffenberg is excelling in her new role as the team's sixth man.
Senior Jaycie Burger continues to be an excellent leader for the team, bringing defense, toughness and outside shooting touch to the lineup, while freshman Dani Salenbien is adjusting quickly to the collegiate game with a versatile set of skills to add to the Charger attack.
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
- Hillsdale has a 19-9 edge over Tiffin historically in a series dating back to the early 1990s, but have lost two straight to the Dragons, including a 70-56 defeat at home earlier this year on Jan. 16.
- Findlay tied the longest active series between Hillsdale and another conference opponents at 25 wins apiece with an 88-77 victory on Dec. 3, 2020 to open the season. The Oilers have now won back-to-back games in the series after Hillsdale won three straight previously.
- Junior Lauren Daffenberg continues to move up Hillsdale's career made 3-pointers list. With three makes on Saturday, Daffenberg broke a tie at 144 with Mary Wiesen (1999-03) for seventh-place all time. Daffenberg now has 147 3-pointers for her career, and is 10 behind former teammate Makenna Ott (2015-19)'s total of 157 for sixth all-time.
- Along with Daffenberg, senior Jaycie Burger is also working her way up the career made 3-pointers list. At 134 for her career, Burger is currently 10th and just one behind Liz Cibor (1998-02) for the ninth spot. Daffenberg and Burger might not be the last from this year's squad to make the list – junior Grace Touchette has 107 made 3-pointers for her career and is climbing fast.
- Sophomore Sydney Mills is having an impressive season. She leads the G-MAC in rebounding at 10.5 a game –and she's averaging double-double at 13 points per game as well. She's also the conference leader in defensive rebounds per game (8.5), and recently tied her career high in points with 23 against Ohio Dominican on Saturday.