The Hillsdale College women's basketball team's biggest conference win to date doubled as a special night for senior Sydney Mills, who surpassed a career milestone in the Chargers' 76-63 victory over visiting Ursuline on Thursday.
With a 3-pointer with 7:24 to play in the third quarter, Mills became just the 20th Charger women's basketball player in program history to reach 1,000 points for her career, and another 3-pointer from the senior on the ensuing possession surpassed the mark. Those back-to-back treys gave Hillsdale a 16-point lead, one that the Chargers wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way in beating the Arrows, who entered Thursday's contest as one of the top teams in the G-MAC.
On a night that put Mills into the history books, she had a game that's become standard for her in her four-year Hillsdale career, contributing to the Chargers' winning effort with a 14 point, 12 rebound double-double, her seventh of the season to date.
Senior Grace Touchette led the Chargers with 17 points and three assists, while Peighton Nelson chipped in eight points for the Chargers, Arianna Sysum added five points and six rebounds, and Caitlin Splain chipped in three 3-pointers off the bench.
Three-point shooting was once again a big story for Hillsdale, as the Chargers knocked down 13 triples, including five in the first quarter, to separate from Ursuline early. Second-chance points also were a huge factor for the Chargers, who outrebounded Ursuline 44-34 and got 15 points off second-chance opportunities, the margin of victory by itself.
Hillsdale outscored Ursuline 11-6 in points off turnovers as well, and 26-10 in bench points, all key parts of Hillsdale's victory.
The Chargers were hot from the start, hitting their first three shots from the floor to take a 7-0 edge that set the tone for the game. Ursuline was only able to tie the score up once from there and never led in the contest, despite making multiple pushes to try and close the gap. A 3-pointer by Splain with 3:57 to play in the third quarter gave the Chargers a double-digit lead in the second half, and Ursuline never got the deficit back to single digits the rest of the way.
There's more potential history down the road for Mills, who not only has 1,003 points in her career, but 862 rebounds as well. The senior is on track to become just the third player in Chargers women's basketball history to surpass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career this season with a solid finish.
As a team, Hillsdale improves to 11-7 overall and gets back to .500 in conference play at 4-4, with a big game on tap against Ohio Dominican on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Chargers lost to ODU on the road earlier this season, but a victory over the Panthers on Saturday would split the season series and potentially catapult Hillsdale into the top five in the G-MAC standings, pending other results around the league.
Photo by Charles Miller