Thanks to a hot start and poise late, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team picked up its biggest win of the season to date on Saturday, upsetting one of the top teams in the G-MAC standings, Thomas More, on its home floor in a 69-60 victory.
The Chargers used swarming defense and opportunistic offense to build a double-digit halftime lead and led by as many as 19 in the third quarter, but saw that lead dwindle to just four with 6:42 to play after a furious late charge by the Saints to try and stem Hillsdale's upset bid.
With the game slipping away, the Chargers buckled down, parrying every attempt by Thomas More to close the gap further with big baskets of their own to keep hold of a multi-possession lead. Senior Dani Hohlbein and juniors Lauren McDonald and Caitlin Splain scored all 14 of Hillsdale's points in the final six minutes of the game, with McDonald and Splain each converting a clutch layup and the three players going a combined 10-for-10 from the line in a cool-headed performance to dispatch the Saints late.
While those three players were huge for Hillsdale down the stretch, it was a career-best performance from junior Kendall McCormick that put the Chargers in position to win and set the tone for the game early. McCormick finished with career-highs in both points (16) and steals (six), with five of those steals coming in the first half and playing a major role in Hillsdale's double-digit halftime lead. McCormick was emblematic of an excellent defensive outing for the Chargers, who recorded 13 steals to force the Saints into 20 turnovers, and scored nearly a third of their points, 25 in total off those takeaways.
It's a satisfying road win in several ways for the Chargers, coming just nine days after a tough 65-55 loss to the Saints at home on Jan. 4 that saw Hillsdale blow a lead entering the fourth quarter. This time, with a bigger advantage and better play late, the Chargers were able to get the job done.
Splain chipped in 16 points, four rebounds and three steals as well for Hillsdale, McDonald added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Hohlbein chipped in 10 points off the bench to give Hillsdale a fourth double-figure scorer. Annalise Pietrzyk added five points off the bench for Hillsdale, and Ashley Konkle chipped in four points and five rebounds as well.
Hillsdale (7-8, 3-4 G-MAC) is back home on Wednesday for its next contest, hosting Malone at 5:30 p.m. The Chargers are hoping for another shot at revenge against the Pioneers, who, like the Saints, won an earlier meeting against Hillsdale, 58-49, on Dec. 16.
Photo by Austin Thomason