The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team defeated Lake Erie College on Lake Erie’s home court last week.
Previously, on Jan. 23, Hillsdale had lost to Lake Erie at home.
“We underestimated them the first time,” sophomore Alex Moynes said.
But on Thursday, Feb. 12, the Chargers came back and defeated Lake Erie 67-56.
“We made ourselves realize that we are the better team,” junior Brooke Borowski said.
Head coach Claudette Charney said the team played an okay first half, but had a much better second half.
Hillsdale was behind 27-29 going into the second half, and junior Megan Fogt had been held to six points and four rebounds.
In the second half, the Chargers scored 40 points, with 20 points coming from Fogt. She also added 14 rebounds in the second half, to finish the game with 26 points and 18 rebounds.
Moynes scored seven points in only five minutes of playing time. Three players – senior Angela Bisaro, sophomore Kelsey Cromer, and junior Kadie Lowery – each scored nine.
“It was not our best, but we played well enough to win,” Charney said.
The game against Lake Erie was Borowski’s first game back since being injured in the beginning of January.
“It was so nice to be on the floor playing,” Borowski said.
She said that Charney had told her she might be needed to play this game, but figured she would only be put in at the end of a half. Charney put her in the game with 13 minutes left in the second half.
“I just looked at her like, ‘are you sure?’” Borowski said.
She played for seven minutes, with one assist and one foul.
On Saturday, Hillsdale lost to Ashland University 63-83.
In January, Hillsdale had defeated the defending Division II national champions, but were unable to defeat them on Ashland’s home court.
Hillsdale played a strong first half, and ended the half ahead by one point.
Ashland was able to score on seven possessions in a row in a 25-0 run to take a solid lead early in the second half.
“We never really got that spark,” Moynes said. “We needed somebody to bring it home and nobody was able to.”
The Chargers were able to cut the lead to 11 points, but couldn’t get over the hump, Charney said.
“It was our worst defensive game in a long time,” Charney said.
Fogt fouled twice in the first five minutes of the game, and was limited to eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in 24 minutes of playing time.
With Fogt limited in time from her average 35 minutes per game, Moynes used her increased time to set career highs with 15 points, six rebounds, and five blocked shots in 20 minutes.
“She had her best effort this year,” Charney said.
Hillsdale plays at Malone University on Thursday, Feb. 20. They return home to play Walsh University on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.
“We are definitely ready to work this week to beat Malone and make it to the tournament,” Moynes said.
