The Hillsdale College women's basketball team hung tough with visiting Northwood for three quarters, but the Timberwolves seized control in the fourth to send the Chargers to a 76-68 loss on Thursday night.
The Chargers knocked down 11 3-pointers in the contest and scored 41 first half points, leading by as many as seven in the first two quarters, and despite a strong third quarter by Northwood, Hillsdale trailed by just four points entering the fourth.
In the end, Hillsdale just couldn't weather a 10-0 run by the Timberwolves from the seven minute mark to the five minute mark of the final period, a stretch that included a made 3-pointer and back-to-back put-backs on consecutive possessions by Northwood.
The Chargers refused to let Northwood pull away, getting four points from Caitlin Splain late and largely holding the Timberwolves in check defensively in the last three minutes, but couldn't generate enough offense to pull themselves back into the lead with the limited time left.
Splain scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Chargers, while senior Sydney Mills added a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double -- her first double-double since returning from injury last week. Freshman Annalise Pietrzyk added 10 points off the bench and junior Lauren McDonald and freshman Savannah Smith each chipped in eight points.
Hillsdale committed just 11 turnovers, a solid performance offensively for the season, but struggled on the defensive glass, conceding 14 offensive rebounds and 16 critical second-chance points to the Timberwolves in the loss.
The Chargers fall to 9-9 overall, 5-5 in G-MAC play and hit the road for a big contest on Saturday, traveling to a Cedarville team that's trying to overtake Hillsdale for the eighth spot in the G-MAC standings and the final G-MAC Tourney berth. Tipoff for that contest will be 2 p.m.
Photo by Reva Ludwig