Thanks to strong efforts off the bench, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team nearly overturned a 20-point first half deficit on the road at Findlay on Saturday.
But the Chargers couldn't finish off the comeback late, and the Oilers were able to pull away at the free throw line in the final two minutes for an 81-67 victory.
Hillsdale trailed by as few as four points with two minutes to play after a massive second-half rally, 69-65, but the Oilers answered at the other end with a Bridget Landin layup, and after an empty Chargers posession at the other end Findlay had a large enough lead to control the rest of regulation at the foul line.
The Chargers had to rally from a big deficit after a brutal start to the contest offensively that saw Hillsdale held scorless for the first six-and-a-half minutes, and finish the first quarter with a season-low six points. Hillsdale shot just 13.3% from the floor in that period and was 0 for 7 from 3-point range, and the lead Findlay built in that quarter proved to be the difference as the Chargers outscored the Oilers 61-60 in the final three quarters, and by an even more substantial margin when subtracting Findlay's 10 points at the foul line in the final minute and a half after Hillsdale was forced to foul to extend the game.
With the Chargers needing a spark offensively, senior Lauren Daffenberg came in off the bench and provided just that in the second quarter. Daffenberg hit four 3-pointers in the second period to help the Chargers claw their way back into the game before halftime, and stayed hot throughout the contest, finishing with six 3-pointers and a season-high 20 points in 26 minutes of action while also contributing six rebounds.
Junior Sydney Mills also played a big role in the Chargers' comeback, scoring 12 of her 15 points in the second half as Hillsdale erased an 11-point halftime deficit and cut Findlay's lead to three points at one moment in the third quarter. Mills also chipped in seven rebounds for the Chargers, while senior Grace Touchette added 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and freshman Peighton Nelson chipped in six points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals as well.
Junior Maverick Delp added six points and four rebounds off the bench as well for Hillsdale, which outrebounded the much taller Oilers 44 to 39 on the glass but couldn't overcome a 33.8% shooting night from the floor, a number driven heavily by the team's first quarter struggles.
The Chargers (11-9, 8-6 G-MAC) don't have to wait long for a shot at redemption as Findlay travels to Hillsdale on Monday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. for a make-up contest. Hillsdale will be looking to prevent a series sweep on the part of the Oilers and stay in position to grab one of the six G-MAC tournament berths up for grabs at the end of the month.
Photo Courtesy of Findlay Athletics