The Hillsdale College women's basketball team hung tough early but couldn't overcome the pressure of a deep and defensively aggressive Kentucky Wesleyan squad in an 87-65 road loss to open G-MAC play on Thursday.
The Chargers committed a season-high 26 turnovers, nine more than their previous high performance, and the Panthers took advantage, turning those turnovers into 26 points, a number larger than the margin of victory in the contest.
Hillsdale was relatively close to the Panthers in several other key areas, shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from 3-point range to Kentucky Wesleyan's 47.1 percent from the floor and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc, but the cumulative effect of those empty possessions caused by Charger turnovers allowed the Panthers to get 17 more shots up in the contest, and nine more made baskets to pull away.
The Chargers fell behind early, as Kentucky Wesleyan opened the game on a 13-0 run. Hillsdale got quick 3-pointers from junior Sydney Mills and freshman Caitlin Splain to cut into the lead and trailed by just six at the end of the first quarter, 26-20. But the Panthers outscored the Chargers 18-9 in the second quarter to take a 15-point lead into halftime and never let the Chargers get the deficit back to single digits from there.
Mills had a big night to lead the way for the Chargers in the loss, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and also chipping in two assists and two steals. Senior guard Grace Touchette also had a solid night, extending her streak of double-figure scoring games to seven with 11 points, and freshman Caitlin Splain hit three 3-pointers and finished with nine points off the bench.
Junior Arianna Sysum chipped in seven points for Hillsdale, freshman point guard Peighton Nelson added four points, seven assists and two steals, and sophomore Dani Salenbien chipped in four points, three assists and three blocks.
The Chargers fall to 2-4 on the season, as the loss to the Panthers snaps a two-game winning streak. Hillsdale will finish its weekend road trip with a contest against 1-6 Trevecca Nazarene, fresh off a loss of their own to Findlay tonight, at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.
Photo by Mark Pierce