After a sweeping victory over Lake Erie College on Thursday, the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team suffered a stinging loss on Saturday to Ashland University, the top team in the nation.
Hillsdale now stands at 6-13 in the GLIAC and 9-13 overall.
The shots fell where they needed to for the Eagles, who won 83-57 over the Chargers. This is the second clash of the season with the team that currently stands at 18-1 in the GLIAC. The first was on Jan. 19, when Hillsdale lost 80-51.
“They have a very solid team from top to bottom,” assistant coach Jonathan Mock said.
Ashland surged ahead in the first half, shooting 68.1 percent from the field compared to Hillsdale’s 35 percent. The Eagles had a 20 point lead at halftime, and had already racked up six of their 12 total three-pointers.
In the final seven minutes of the game, the Chargers went on an 18-3 run, closing the gap from 80-39 to 83-57, but were never fully able to regain their momentum.
Mock said they were “very disappointed” with their performance against Ashland.
“We’ve proven that for stretches we can play with them,” he said. “But when they put a good run together, we back down.”
Freshman guard Kayla Geffert scored the game high of 15 points in 22 minutes on the court, and said that other than the offensive play at the beginning, the outcome was disappointing for the Chargers.
“It wasn’t the greatest game for us defensively,” Geffert said. “Once we started getting shots on us, we kind of lost our confidence.”
Sophomores Brooke Borowski and Kadie Lowery both contributed the second highest scores with nine points each.
Borowski said the Chargers encountered trouble penetrating the screens the Eagles set up around their shooters.
“They have great shooters,” she said. “We needed to establish more of an inside presence.”
Thursday brought a 68-52 win against Lake Erie College at the Jesse Philips Arena, as well as a marked difference in the Chargers’ defensive effort.
Hillsdale outrebounded Lake Erie 52-30, getting over 50 rebounds for the fourth time this season. Two of those times were in the last three games.
“We are getting better,” Mock said. “There’s constant improvement. I don’t question that. There’s no doubt we have a solid foundation in place.”
Hillsdale was 13 points ahead at halftime, and surged further ahead in the second half with a 12-2 run. They led in the second half by as much as 23 points, holding the opposition scoreless for more than six minutes at one point.
Lake Erie came back to somewhat close the gap in the final five minutes, but remained behind.
Borowski scored a team high of 16 points, including three three-point shots. She said she is happy they played well and got the win.
“I think the aggressiveness we had and the want to prove ourselves after a tough loss to Ohio Dominican University definitely contributed to the high number of rebounds, along with our tenacity on defense,” she said.
Sophomore starter Megan Fogt earned 11 points in 16 minutes, and Lowery followed with 9 points. Lowery made three three-point shots in 23 minutes.
Hillsdale will play Malone University at 8 p.m. tonight at the Jesse Philips Arena, and at Walsh University at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Looking forward to the weekend, Mock said he has a “good feeling,” especially after a remarkably good practice on Monday morning.
“There was some grittiness about practice that we lack at times,” he said.
Hillsdale lost to Malone 75-60 on Jan. 24, and he said, “It’s time for us to give a little payback.”
Tonight’s game will be an awareness and fundraising night for the fight against breast cancer. Players will wear special warm-ups and t-shirts will be on sale during the games.
