Though the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team lost last night to Ferris State University, 61-51, their previous two wins guaranteed them a spot in the GLIAC tournament next week.
“The wins mean that we have secured a winning season (10-9 GLIAC, 14-12 overall) [and] participation in the tournament nine of the last 10 years,” head coach Claudette Charney said.
The loss to Ferris, the top team in the Northern Division, was Hillsdale’s only loss to a Northern Division team this season.
Charney said the loss was due mostly to the absence of a third-perimeter player. Freshman Abbey Lovat was out with an injury, and Charney said freshman Kadie Lowery couldn’t get any shots out.
Senior captain Chelsea Harrison led the team with 17 points, which made her the fifth player in Hillsdale’s history to score more than 1,500 career points. Junior Lea Jones followed with 13. Together the girls combined for more than half the Chargers’ points but even that wasn’t enough to secure the win.
“You cant rely on Lea and Chelsea to take 33 of your teams shots,” Charney said. “We didn’t get consistent play on the perimeter and they made some big shots when they had to.”
The Chargers will either face Tiffin University or Michigan Technological University in the first round of the GLIAC tournament on Wednesday.
The Chargers executed their offense extremely well in a close road win over Saginaw Vally State University on Saturday, 72-63. A clean and crisp zone offense cut down turnovers and propelled the Chargers to victory at Saginaw during the Cardinals’ last home game of the regular season.
“We talked about being smarter with the ball and our passes,” senior captain Katie Bildner said. “A lot of times we just throw it without making ball fakes, and from watching film, we saw that they go for shot fakes, so we needed to do that more to draw fouls. We worked hard at practicing this and executed.”
Harrison said by attacking the middle, the Chargers were able to penetrate Saginaw Valley’s zone and eventually beat it, which they didn’t do well enough against Tiffin University. Harrison’s NBA-range 3-pointer to close out the first half gave the Chargers momentum going into the second period, where they led with confidence for the majority for the rest of the game.
The quickness and leadership of junior point guard Lea Jones was also key in the Charger domination of Saginaw Valley.
The Chargers’ more disciplined offensive approach began earlier than the Saginaw game. Last Thursday, the Chargers hosted Ohio Dominican University for the seniors’ last home game at Hillsdale College. The Chargers beat the Panthers 67-57 in a come-from-behind effort by Hillsdale.
After trailing by two at the half, Hillsdale regrouped and refocused to come out on top. In the locker room, the Chargers dedicated themselves to running the floor more and with higher intensity, which had worked against the Panthers the first time around.
After setting her career record at ODU the previous week with a whopping 30 points, Chelsea Harrison put up 33 to break her record again.
“Even though we were down at halftime, we regained our composure and realized we needed to play our basketball. I didn’t do anything differently,” Harrison said. “I just played and took advantage of what they gave us. We took advantage of their turnovers, boxed out better, and played better defense.”
“I felt in both games we played very well in the last five minutes to secure the wins,” Charney said.
Along with clutch late-game play, one of the key ingredients to victory for the Chargers at the ODU and SVSU games was a higher level of post play, which has been essential in the success Hillsdale has experienced during the last leg of the season. They have won nine out of their last 12 games.
“The last 12 games have been really fun,” senior captain Liz Brannick said. “We have been having really tough competitive practices and they are finally paying off for us. We will definitely carry this energy into the post season.
The loss of sophomore Marissa DeMott, a prominent three-point shooter, has forced other Chargers to step up, most noticeably Harrison, Bildner, Jones, and Lowery. However, the Chargers have learned that they cannot depend solely on outside shooting to prosper in the GLIAC. Their improved post play has propelled them to one of the top teams in the South Division.
Brannick has helped lead this effort for the Chargers, with a career-high 20 point effort against Saginaw Valley. Sophomore Anglea Bisaro and freshmen Megan Fogt and Lovat have also contributed to the Chargers’ improved post play.
“One of the major things we have been doing is making the extra pass, looking for each other more, and executing inside-out along with stronger post feeds,” Bildner said. “Our post presence has been great, which is different from earlier when we were all about the threes.
The Chargers will most likely be facing Michigan Technological University or Tiffin University on Wednesday in the first round of the GLIAC tournament.