For the first time since 2003-2004, the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team will not be participating in the GLIAC tournament.
The Chargers finished the 2012-2013 season in a clash against the 19th-ranked University of Findlay last Saturday, and lost 73-61. The Oilers finished the regular season at 22-4 and Hillsdale stands at 11-14 overall.
“It’s disappointing we won’t be playing in the GLIAC tournament, but hopefully we use that as motivation as we go into the offseason,” assistant coach Jonathan Mock said.
He added that the girls will need the break to recover from a challenging year. With only four upperclassmen on the team, the young players faced a brutal six months.
“They need to take some time off,” Mock said.
On Saturday, Hillsdale kept pace with Findlay for the first 15 minutes. But after an impressive run by the Oilers, the score was 24-43 at halftime.
Much of this was due to the fast work of Findlay senior Kayla Brown, who earned her career high that afternoon. In the first half alone, Brown shot 9-11, making six three-point shots for 29 of her 35 total game points.
“We just couldn’t stop her and she just couldn’t miss,” sophomore center Megan Fogt said. “Even if we had a hand in front of her face, her shots went in.”
In the second half, Mock said they put “probably our best defender,” freshman Ashlynn Landherr, on Brown.
“Ashlynn did a really good job of shutting her down,” junior forward Angela Bisaro said.
Landherr stayed on top of Brown and managed to hold her to only six points in the second half.
“It was just disappointing we couldn’t do that the first half,” Mock said.
Findlay held the Chargers to a standstill several times in the second half, but Hillsdale battled back. The gap was only a six point difference three times in the game, including at 4:21 minutes from the finish, but there was not enough momentum to keep the Oilers back. In those final minutes, Findlay pulled ahead by another six points for the win.
“If we did anything well, we fought back,” Mock said. “That was as close as we could get.”
Hillsdale’s previous clash with Findlay on the Chargers’ home court on Feb. 2 ended in a loss for the Chargers, 76-70. Knowing how Findlay would play was another reason Mock said Saturday’s loss was a disappointment.
“We didn’t execute. We knew what they were going to do as far as offensive stuff and defensively, and we just didn’t execute,” Mock said.
Despite the loss, Hillsdale played a strong game on the boards, with 27 total rebounds. They had a good comeback from their deficit at the beginning.
“We were saying afterward, it was our season in a nutshell,” Bisaro said. “We started out really slow but finished strong.”
Fogt played a strong game, raking in 22 points. Her nine rebounds were one shy of her 14th double-double this season. With two blocked shots, she earns third on Hillsdale’s all-time blocked shots list.
Bisaro was the only other Charger to enter double digits in points scored. She made four field goals and two free throws for a total of 10 points.
Though the team will not be going to the GLIAC tournament this year, its future looks bright. Because the young players got so much experience on the floor so quickly, they will be ready for a stronger season next year, Mock said.
“We did a good job of setting a foundation for next year,” he said.
Fogt said the game time experience will increase the chemistry on the team.
“Knowing where your teammates are on the court, having an idea of what they’re going to do- I think we have some promising years ahead of us,” Fogt said.
Bisaro echoed this, saying that the experience the younger players had bonded the team.
“You can feel it on the court. We’ve really grown together,” she said.
The recent loss will motivate the team to work hard in the offseason as they look ahead to next year’s GLIAC tournament.
“We know where we want to be next year,” Fogt said. “We don’t want to be sitting at home during the tournament.”
Bisaro said the team recognizes their improvement and is “definitely excited” for next year.
“I’m really banking on good things happening,” Bisaro said.