The Hillsdale College women's basketball team couldn't weather a first-half shooting barrage by host Walsh on Saturday, falling too far behind to rally in a 95-68 defeat.
The Cavaliers seemingly couldn't miss in the first half, scoring 60 points and shooting well over 60 percent from the floor, as well as going 9 of 11 from 3-point range. The Chargers slowed down Walsh considerably in the second half, holding the Cavaliers to just 35 points and scoring 33 themselves, but the 25-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.
Hillsdale had a solid offensive night in defeat, though the performance was overshadowed by Walsh's offensive fireworks. Junior Sydney Mills led the Chargers with a 19 point, 12 rebound double-double, her 10th of the season, and went a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line, setting the tone for a contest where the Chargers shot 12 of 14 on free throws.
Freshman Peighton Nelson matched her career high with 16 points and chipped in three steals for the Chargers, while senior Lauren Daffenberg hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points as well. Senior Grace Touchette chipped in seven points, and freshman Carly Callahan added seven points off the bench as well.
Hillsdale scored 11 points off of eight Walsh turnovers but couldn't keep the much taller Cavaliers out of the paint, losing the rebounding battle 45-36 and giving up 26 second-chance points and 34 points in the paint in the loss.
The Chargers fall to 11-12 on the year and 8-9 in G-MAC play, with five games remaining. Hillsdale next faces a critical four game homestand that will likely determine whether or not the Chargers qualify for the G-MAC tournament, starting with a Thursday contest against Ursuline next week at 5:30 p.m.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22