Women defeat Wayne State Wildcats, 67-58

The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team gave Walsh University a taste of GLIAC competition through a definitive victory last Saturday, winning 80-74.

Walsh will be joining the GLIAC in July of this year, so this win was an important match-up for both teams. The Chargers also gained preparation for their tough upcoming league games.

The victory was the most recent in a string of impressive Hillsdale wins against teams such as Wayne State University and Grand Valley State University.

“Playing Walsh will hopefully boost everyone’s confidence on the team,” senior captain Liz Brannick said. “Everyone got to play in the game, so it was a good opportunity to try different combinations of players in a game situation.”

The Chargers fall last Thursday to a well-disciplined University of Findlay team 63-48, but they secured two great wins the prior weekend, beating powerhouses Wayne State and Grand Valley on the road.

This was the Chargers’ second meeting with Wayne State, after falling to them at home just a week before.

“We did not want to lose to Wayne State again,” senior captain Katie Bildner said. “We all agreed that they should not have won the first time, and it was time for pay back on their home court.”

In the first game, one of Hillsdale’s biggest downfalls was the team’s lack of offensive rebounding against the Warriors.

“We gave up too many offensive rebounds and knew we needed to focus on that when we played them the second time,” senior captain Chelsea Harrison said. “We did the little things in that second time playing them and came out on top with a win.”

The Chargers carried their confidence from the Wayne State game to Allendale, Mich., where they beat the Lakers at home for the first time in over nine years.

It was not an easy win for the Chargers, who had to battle back after being down for the first six and a half minutes of the game and then again at halftime. However, Hillsdale regrouped at the break and took the lead for the remainder of the game.

“We were so excited after the game, and the feeling of all of our hard work that we put in that week paying off was amazing,” Bildner said.

While the Chargers have experienced success recently, they had a few tough games over the break that did not go their way. They fell in close contests in the Northern Kentucky tournament but continued to learn from defeat.

“We scheduled really good teams,” said head coach Claudette Charney. “There is an old saying that you have to play the best to be the best.”

The Chargers continue to aspire to be the best as their season approaches the final stretch. Charney said freshman Abbey Lovat, among others, has been contributing to this effort through hard work and hustle.

“[W]e have had flashes of good play from all of our players,” Charney said. “I think our bench is getting better and playing time is earned on the practice floor.”

The improvement of the women’s basketball team will be put to the test as the Chargers host Northern Michigan University and Michigan Technological University tonight and Saturday afternoon.