The Hillsdale College women's basketball team's hopes of avenging an early-season loss against visiting Kentucky Wesleyan came unraveled on Saturday, as the Chargers never got on track offensively against a stingy Panthers defense in a 78-57 loss.
Hillsdale scrapped and clawed to keep it close, battling back from a 9-0 deficit to trail by just five points, 20-15, at the end of the first quarter. After a 15-5 run by by Kentucky Wesleyan midway through the second quarter pushed the Panthers lead to double digits at the half, the Chargers cut it back to six with 7:20 to play in the third quarter.
But an impressive effort to hang in there by Hillsdale couldn't overcome shooting struggles, as the Chargers shot just 36.4 percent from the floor and 19.2 percent from 3-point range against KWC's swarming defense. Turnovers also were a problem, as Kentucky Wesleyan turned 17 Hillsdale giveaways into 27 points off turnovers, more than the margin of victory.
Defensively, the Chargers held the Panthers' leading scorer, Tahlia Walton, without a point in the contest but Kentucky Wesleyan's balance won out, as the Panthers used four players in double figures to pull away for good in the second half.
Senior Grace Touchette led the Chargers in scoring with 13 points and also played an impressive defensive game, chipping in four blocks. Junior Sydney Mills came up just short of a double double with 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for Hillsdale, while junior Arianna Sysum and freshman Peighton Nelson each added eight points.
Senior Lauren Daffenberg chipped in eight points and three rebounds off the bench as well for the Chargers, who fall to 10-7 overall and 7-4 in the G-MAC with the loss. Hillsdale is still in a solid position in the G-MAC tournament race, a half-game ahead of Cedarville for fourth place, but face a pivotal game on the road on Thursday against an Ohio Dominican team that's looked much-improved the last couple of weeks. The Chargers beat ODU 78-63 at home on Dec. 9 in their first meeting of the year.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan
