A late comeback by host Trevecca Nazarene, capped by a go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds remaining, snatched a big road victory away from the Hillsdale College women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
With the game tied at 54-all after after a putback layup with 15 seconds to play by senior Sydney Mills, Trevecca scored the game-winning bucket at the other end with less than a second to go in a 56-54 final.
Hillsdale entered the quarter with a 44-31 lead but struggled offensively in the final period as Trevecca made a big push to get back in the game, making just one basket in a six minute and 10 second stretch as the Trojans cut the deficit down from 12 points to two. A big 3-pointer by Caitlin Splain with 2:42 to play put Hillsdale up five again, but Trevecca would counter with a 7-0 run to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter with 26 seconds to play.
Mills' layup gave Hillsdale a shot at forcing overtime, but the Trojans converted at the other end to take the victory.
Prior to the final quarter, Hillsdale had controlled the game defensively, limiting the Trojans to just 16 first-half points and 31 through three quarters to build a double-digit advantage. But unable to get stops at the same rate in the fourth quarter, Hillsdale succumbed to a massive 45-22 rebounding advantage in favor of the Trojans, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second-chance points, as well as a 38-20 advantage on points in the paint.
Mills had a big all-around game for the Chargers, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Caitlin Splain hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and four rebounds as well. Senior Grace Touchette hit a big career milestone, becoming just the sixth Charger women's basketball player to go over 1,500 points for her career in the game, and finished with nine points as well, while Peighton Nelson added eight points and a season-high five steals as well.
Now 12-9 overall, 5-6 in the G-MAC, the Chargers head into a huge home contest against Cedarville at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. A victory over the Yellow Jackets gets Hillsdale back to .500 in league play and evens up the season series with Cedarville, two things that would both help the Chargers' chances of making the G-MAC tournament at the end of the season.
Photo by Charles Miller