Saturday's road contest at Cedarville held big implications for the Hillsdale College women's basketball team.
At 5-5 in G-MAC play and with a long road trip looming, the Chargers were looking to shore up its spot in the top eight in the G-MAC standings, a position that would allow it to make the G-MAC Tournament for the second straight year if held to the end of the regular season. The host Yellowjackets, meanwhile, entered as one of the most credible members of the pack chasing Hillsdale for the eighth spot in the standings.
On the court on Saturday, however, the Chargers left no doubts in a comprehensive 77-48 beatdown of Cedarville in all facets that secures all the advantages they were hoping for.
Leading 21-20 at the end of a competitive first quarter, Hillsdale dominated the middle two quarters at both ends of the floor to pull away for good, outscoring Cedarville 36-14 in the second and third quarters to turn the game into a rout. The Chargers were impressive defensively, holding Cedarville scoreless for nearly six full minutes in the second quarter to build an eight point halftime lead, then unloaded on the Yellowjackets offensively in the third quarter, pouring on a 17-0 run that lasted five full minutes and included five different scorers for Hillsdale to all but put the game away.
Key to Hillsdale's success at both ends was a lopsided matchup on the glass, as the Chargers grabbed 54 rebounds to Cedarville's 30. Hillsdale had almost as many offensive rebounds (19) as Cedarville had defensive ones (22) in the contest, and the Chargers used that control of the boards to create 15 second-chance points and limit the Yellowjackets to one shot when Cedarville had the ball.
That fed an excellent all-around defensive effort by the Chargers, who held Cedarville to 29.3% shooting from the floor and 19.2% shooting from 3-point range. Hillsdale was unfazed by a hot start from 3-point range from the Yellowjackets and locked down Cedarville as the game went on -- Cedarville shot 4 of 8 from 3-point range in the first half, but went just 1 of 18 in the final three quarters.
Junior Caitlin Splain led Hillsdale with 16 points and three rebounds, junior Lauren McDonald chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Kendall McCormick added 10 points. Both senior Sydney Mills and redshirt freshman Sydney Pnacek each just missed a double-double with identical statlines of nine points and 12 rebounds, combining to help drive Hillsdale's huge rebounding edge as well.
Hillsdale improves to 10-9 overall, 6-5 in G-MAC play ahead of a big road contest at Ursuline next Saturday. The Arrows got off to a fast start and are currently second in the G-MAC standings, but have lost back-to-back games entering next week and look like a vulnerable opponent as Hillsdale hunts another game-changing road victory.
Photo by Reva Ludwig