The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team won two of the seven GLIAC games played since the close of last semester. They are currently 6-9 overall and 3-9 in the GLIAC.
The Chargers will play at Malone University at 8 p.m. tonight. Despite the barrage of tough teams they have played, the Chargers will head into the game with vigor.
“We’re going to give it everything we have,” head coach Claudette Charney said. “We just have to approach every game one at a time.”
After a brief two game winning streak, Hillsdale lost 80-51 to Ashland University in Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 19. Ashland is the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, and their victory brought them to 19-0 in the season.
Coach Charney said the Chargers played impressive possessions for most of the game, but made mistakes in rebounds.
“Good teams make you pay for your mistakes,” Charney said, “and they made us pay for every one of them.”
Freshman forward Sarah Theut played an outstanding game, scoring a career-high 15 points that included three 3-point shots.
Thursday, Jan. 17 was a solid 70-56 win for Hillsdale against Lake Erie College. Despite having multiple players injured, Hillsdale stayed ahead of Lake Erie from the start.
“It was probably some of the best team defense we’ve had all year,” assistant coach Jonathan Mock said. “I think Thursday was one more thing that shows they’re not going to quit.”
He said the Chargers struggled in the beginning with defensive rebounding and retaining composure, but when they fixed those problems they soared to victory. Sophomore starter Kadie Lowery scored a career high of 20 points.
Saturday, Jan. 12 was also a win for Hillsdale over Ohio Dominican University, 70-56.
Lowery contributed to this with another career-high 20 points. This included four 3-point shots and eight field goals.
Thursday, Jan. 10 was the first South Division game of the season. Hillsdale lost to the Dragons of Tiffin University, 68-53. The Chargers kept pace for much of the game, leading in the second half by as many as seven points and tied with just over four minutes to go. In the last few minutes, the Dragons pulled away with a 19-2 run. Sophomore starter Megan Fogt outscored every other player in the game with 23 points.
Right after the start of the new year, the Chargers fell in close contests to Wayne State University (70-66) and Saginaw Valley State University (63-58), respectively. Both were away games for the Chargers.
Against Wayne State, senior guard Lea Jones had the high score for the Chargers with 22 points, including seven field goals, four 3-point shots and four free throws.
Before Christmas, Hillsdale lost to Ferris State University (76-63) and Grand Valley State University (84-53).
In the contest against the Bulldogs of Ferris State, the Chargers were 13 points behind within the first seven minutes of the game, and found themselves down 40-23 by the end of the second half.
However, they did not give up, and tied the score at 36 in the second half before the Bulldogs’ eventual victory.
In the earlier Grand Valley State game, the Chargers ended slightly ahead in three-point shots and free throws, but the Lakers had 18 more field goals than Hillsdale.
Tonight’s away game against Malone will test the strength of the Chargers.
Mock said the team has been resilient in the face of loss, and “the one thing you can’t question is their morale.”
“They show up every day ready to work,” he said. “I feel like there are some good wins ahead of them.”