After a key home victory against the Tiffin Dragons on Thursday, Feb. 7, the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team lost 67-59 to Ohio Dominican University on Saturday in an away game for the Chargers.
The team now stands at 8-12 overall and 5-12 in the GLIAC.
On Feb. 9, the Panthers led the Chargers 20-0 until about 11 minutes from the close of the first half of the game. Hillsdale broke onto the scoreboard with a three-point shot by sophomore Chelsea Farrell, but remained behind for the rest of the game.
“That’s just embarrassing no matter who you’re playing,” said junior forward Angela Bisaro. “We knew we were better than that team.”
Hillsdale previously beat the Panthers 70-56 on Jan. 12 at Jesse Philips Arena.
They made a mighty comeback in the second half, approaching Ohio Dominican 53-52 with only five and a half minutes to go.
“We just started chipping away at that deficit, but the time didn’t end up being enough,” Bisaro said.
Sophomore Megan Fogt played an especially good game, scoring the game high of 23 points in 32 minutes. Fogt shot 71 percent, and helped extensively with the team’s defense by snatching 16 rebounds.
Bisaro brought in 10 points, tying with sophomore Brooke Borowski.
Thursday brought the biggest win of the season for the women’s basketball team as they defeated Tiffin University 78-57 at Jesse Philips Arena.
The victory came four weeks after a 15-point loss to the Dragons on their home court.
In this clash, Hillsdale played a good game defensively and never gave Tiffin the chance to build momentum. They kept the Dragons to scoring only 29 percent in the game, compared to the Chargers’ 43 percent.
The Chargers finished strong in the first half with a layup by freshman Sarah Theut, bringing the score to 42-25.
Hillsdale stayed strong throughout the second half, and led by as many as 26 points.
Freshman starter Kayla Geffert scored the team high of 13 points in 17 minutes on the court, including four three-point shots.
Scoring so many, she said, was due to the hard work of her teammates.
“The game was just my lucky game,” she said. “My teammates got me open.”
Though the previous clash with Tiffin was a loss, Geffert said that in this game, “everyone was on.”
“Everyone was focused. We really wanted this one, and it really showed in our play,” she said.
Fogt stepped up with key rebounds to move the game along, and earned her eleventh double-double of the season.
“I knew that as a team we weren’t rebounding as well as we could have been, so I just committed to rebounding,” she said.
She scored 11 points and grabbed 11 defensive rebounds in 25 minutes of the game. With an additional four offensive rebounds, she earned the game high of 15 rebounds.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” she said of her success.
Hillsdale will play Lake Erie at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14. Lake Erie stands at 1-16 in the GLIAC, and Hillsdale beat them 51-39 on Jan. 17.
“We’re pretty excited for the game,” Fogt said. “As long as we come out and play, then it shouldn’t be a problem for us.”
The Chargers’ biggest worry this week will be the match-up against Ashland University (17-0) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16. Ashland is one of Hillsdale’s biggest rivals, and currently stands undefeated in GLIAC play. They are a national powerhouse that provide the Chargers with a huge opportunity for an upset.
“That will be a tough game,” Fogt said. “But I kind of like to look at it as a challenge, just to see what we can do.”
Head coach Claudette Charney said they are looking forward to playing both teams at home, since they tend to do well at home. She said they are also glad to be playing the number one team in the country on Saturday.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to play a team that is very good,” she said.