Women’s basketball drops sixth straight game

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Women’s basketball drops sixth straight game

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The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team fell to Michigan Tech 68-41 Thursday and lost hold of Northern Michigan in a 58-57 loss Saturday after the Wildcats answered a Charger layup with a last-second score of their own.
“We’ve definitely improved so much these past couple weeks,” freshman forward Makenna Ott said. “We’ve been playing good teams, and we’ve battled with them.”
The Chargers lost 68-41 to the Huskies, who are tied for second place in the GLIAC, in a low-scoring defensive battle on Thursday. Tight defense and turnovers on both sides kept the scored tied at zero for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Chargers were unable to outmaneuver the Huskies’ defense, finishing with a 20.8 field goal shooting percentage in their lowest-scoring game of the season.
Head coach Todd Mittmesser declined to comment after the game.
“The Michigan Tech game was a wake-up call,” senior guard Kayla Geffert said. “We had to regroup and refocus what we were trying to do on offense and defense.”
Sophomore Allie Dittmer was a bright spot again in the post position with nine points and nine rebounds, and a 3-point shot at the buzzer from Geffert showed a glimpse of the rapid-fire Charger offense.
Geffert’s spark carried the Chargers into an electric Pink Game against Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers came out full speed, gaining a quick lead that carried from the first quarter until the middle of the fourth.
“The Northern Michigan game was a lot better after Thursday’s game,” Geffert said. “We executed and shut down their offense. We were able to use our quickness, because they were tall, but we could get past them.”
The Chargers sliced through the Wildcat defense for 20 points in the paint, as well as opening the floor for outside shots.
“The game is more fun when we’re moving the ball,” freshman guard Allie Dewire said. “For me, getting a good assist is as good as scoring a basket.”
This offensive charge spurred Ott to the best game of her career. The freshman scored 23 points, including 5-for-7 shooting from outside the three point line.
“We definitely try to play all around,” Ott said. “You can’t just be a shooter, or just a driver. Playing as a team is so important, because then we’re able to move the ball and make plays.”
Northern Michigan’s Bre Gaspervich matched Ott almost shot-for-shot throughout the second half. Gaspervich scored 26 points, putting the Wildcats up by one point with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Then senior forward Sarah Theut drove past three Wildcat defenders for a layup that put the Chargers up by one point with eight seconds left in the game.
But the Wildcats raced down the court for a layup of their own with six seconds remaining to defeat the Chargers 58-57.
“In retrospect, it was a difficult loss, but the team energy, the skill, everything was there for us,” Dewire said. “We’ve played a handful of games down to the wire, but we haven’t been able to put them away. Right now, we’re focused on proving to ourselves that we can beat these teams.”
As the Chargers near the end of the season, they look to follow through on the improvement they’ve made since November.
“I really believe that we can win this week if we play the way we know we can play, and we play hard every second of the game,” Ott said.
The Chargers (9-14, 6-13 GLIAC) will attempt to break a six-game losing streak at Ferris State at 6 p.m. on Thursday. They return home to take on Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re really hungry and really ready to play this week,” Geffert said. “We’re focusing on improving what we have right now and putting ourselves in the best position for next season.”