Christmas is still 10 days away, but from the attire of the Hillsdale College women's basketball coaches at Wednesday's home contest against Davenport, and the way the Chargers played, you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.
The Chargers were giving each other gifts all evening, and that unselfish sharing paid dividends offensively in an 81-44 win over the Panthers.
Hillsdale assisted on 19 of its 28 made shots, outscoring the Panthers 22-6 in the third quarter to pull away for a dominant victory that gives the Chargers four straight wins entering the Christmas break. Continuing that theme of sharing, all 12 players who saw the court for the Chargers scored in the win as well.
Leading the way for the Chargers was senior guard Grace Touchette, who with each passing contest makes it clearer and clearer that what seemed like a hot start to the 2021-22 season is just the new normal. Touchette filled up the stat sheet in just 24 minutes of action, finishing with 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting and also chipping in nine rebounds and seven assists to just miss her first career triple double.
Along the same lines, junior Sydney Mills also turned in an impressively efficient performance in limited minutes due to foul trouble for the Chargers, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.
Junior Arianna Sysum chipped in nine points and 11 rebounds for the Chargers, just missing her second double-double in three games, sophomore Dani Salenbien chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and three assists as well, and freshman Caitlin Splain added nine points on three made 3-pointers off the bench.
Sophia Pierce chipped in a career high seven points off the bench as well for the Chargers, and freshman Carly Callahan added five points and seven rebounds.
Hillsdale's defense played just as crucial a role as their offense in the win, as the Chargers held Davenport to just 21.6% shooting from the floor and 13.3% from 3-point range on the night, while crushing the Panthers on the boards, 59-43.
The Chargers are 6-4 overall entering a two-week layoff, and will be back in action on Dec. 31 with a road contest at Ursuline beginning at 2 p.m. looking to continue a strong start in G-MAC play.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop