For the first time in four seasons, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team won't see its season end when the regular season does.
The Chargers made sure of that in emphatic fashion on the road on Thursday night, running heavily favored Malone off their own home court in a dominant 70-45 victory that locked up Hillsdale's first G-MAC Tourney berth since the 2018-19 season.
Hillsdale led wire-to-wire, jumping out to an early 10-0 lead and leading by double digits for much of the contest. Up 15 at the half, the Chargers put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring Malone 26-14 and pushing their advantage past 20 points entering the fourth quarter.
The Chargers won on the road against a top four team in the G-MAC with their best defensive performance of the season. Hillsdale held the second-highest scoring team per game in the G-MAC in Malone 28 points below its season average, including a 28.1 shooting performance from the floor and a 6 for 24 performance from 3-point range.
With Malone unable to threaten the Chargers offensively in the contest, Hillsdale used a steady shooting performance of its own to build an insurmountable lead. Reigning G-MAC Player of the Week Sydney Mills had another huge game for the Chargers, as the senior scored 19 points and finished with nine rebounds, one shy of her 11th double-double of the season, to lead the way.
Senior Arianna Sysum added 11 points as well for the Chargers, and sophomore Lauren McDonald chipped in 11 points off the bench as well. Senior Grace Touchette added eight points for Hillsdale, Peighton Nelson chipped in five points, five rebounds and three assists, and Dani Salenbien added four points, six rebounds and five assists as well.
Hillsdale, now 16-12 overall and 9-9 in the G-MAC, not only locked up their first postseason berth since 2019, but also their first winning season since the 2018-19 campaign as well. The Chargers can still finish as high as fifth in the G-MAC standings, and will look to improve their seeding with wins in their final two games, starting with a tough contest at G-MAC leader and the top-ranked team in the nation, Ashland, at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Photo by Charles Miller