The Hillsdale College Chargers have settled into a groove as the G-MAC tournament approaches, earning a 80-76 comeback victory on the road against the Ohio Dominican University Panthers on Tuesday.
The Chargers (15-9, 13-7 G-MAC), who remain in sixth place in the conference, have now defeated four of the five teams ahead of them in the G-MAC standings.
“We still realize it’s anybody’s game,” junior forward Brittany Gray said. “One good win doesn’t guarantee the next one. We’re all prepared, but we know that we can beat anybody in the conference.”
Before Tuesday’s victory against Ohio Dominican (16-8, 12-6), the Chargers enjoyed some record-setting performances during the past week, breaking the school record for three-pointers on Saturday with 16. In the same game, senior center Allie Dittmer reached 1,000 career points in an all-around solid performance.
With two games to go, Hillsdale has already punched its ticket to the post-season conference tournament.
“You set up your whole year praying to peak at the end,” head coach Matt Fritsche said. “We’re becoming more healthy and more complete. They’re starting to become more confident and comfortable with their roles. We’re cautiously optimistic that we continue to trend up.”
In their most recent victory on Tuesday, the Chargers trailed by 16 in the second quarter and by seven entering the final quarter, but battled their way back, eventually taking the lead for good with less than two minutes to go thanks to a layup courtesy of junior forward Makenna Ott.
Junior guard Allie Dewire’s pair of free throws in the closing seconds put the game out of reach.
“It took us two and a half quarters to adjust to do what we needed to beat them,” Fritsche said. “We made really strong basketball plays. Our kids grew up and got tougher.”
Senior center Allie Dittmer continued her torrid shooting pace, making 12 of 17 shots to lead the team with 25 points.
“She’s super determined,” Fritsche said of DIttmer. “She’s having fun playing basketball right now. She’s doing everything she can to play as many games as possible.”
Dittmer ranks second in the G-MAC with a .607 shooting percentage. She added 13 rebounds for a double-double.
“It helps that I’m a post player, so I’m close to the basket,” Dittmer said. “Shot selection, technique, and getting good passes from my teammates helps. It all works together.”
Gray filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
“Toward the end of the season, it gets harder and harder to beat teams because they know how you play,” Gray said. “As we get closer to the tournament, these games are a testament to what the tournament is going to look like.”
Gray, who missed three games earlier this season with a sprained ankle, said she feels close to 100 percent, but the adrenaline of late-season games takes care of any inhibitions she may have.
“Tuesday was the first time she’s looked as normal as she should be,” Fritsche said of Gray’s recovery from injury. “She made physical, confident plays. She’s a dynamic player for us.”
Before Tuesday’s victory, it was Women in Sports Night on Feb. 8 at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The Chargers nearly treated the home crowd to a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback against the conference-leading Ursuline College Arrows (18-6, 15-3).
Hillsdale coaches and players from the women’s cross country and tennis teams, softball and swim teams, were on hand to sign posters, give away prizes, and receive recognition at halftime for the night sponsored by Hillsdale College Charger Athletics, Hillsdale College FAST, and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
Once trailing by 16 with less than seven minutes left in the game, Hillsdale finished the game on a 29-14 run but never was quite able to overcome the deficit. A three-pointer from freshman guard Jaycie Burger brought the Chargers within one as the final buzzer sounded. The Arrows had escaped with a 85-84 victory.
Although Fritsche said the practice prior to the loss did not prepare the Chargers for a victory, he made it clear that his team’s desire to compete and play its best was certainly not the issue.
“Our kids have the purest of intentions,” Fritsche said. “We don’t have to worry about their character or their effort.”
Ott recorded the program’s first triple-double in ten years, collecting 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, in addition to three steals and two blocked shots.
Dittmer made 12 of 13 shots for 24 points to lead the team, and Dewire scored a season-high 22 points in the loss.
On Saturday, Hillsdale avenged its heartbreaking loss two days earlier by reaching triple digits on the scoreboard in a 103-50 wipeout of the Lake Erie College Storm (11-13, 7-11).
En route to the program-record 16 threes, Hillsdale shot better than 50 percent both from the floor and beyond the arc.
“Everybody can shoot,” Gray said. “In terms of having to guard people, now teams have to get out and guard us as shooters and as drivers. We’re becoming more versatile.”
The Chargers dominated virtually every statistical category. They out-rebounded the Storm 49-28, scored 31 points off of turnovers to Lake Erie’s six, and racked up 26 assists to the Storm’s five. It was the textbook definition of a basketball landslide, from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
Hillsdale’s bench alone outscored Lake Erie, racking up 51 of the Chargers’ 103 points.
“In college games, it’s rare to have an easy day,” Fritsche said. “It keeps those kids who don’t play as much coming back to practice with a purpose. You can’t really see when you’re not playing how important you actually are. Today, they got rewarded.”
In the victory, Dittmer scored 17 points and reached 1,000 career points in style, nailing a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to achieve the milestone.
“It was a pretty cool accomplishment but it was something I couldn’t do without my teammates,” Dittmer said. “It’ll be something that when I’m done playing will be a cool milestone to look back on.”
Dittmer, who scores the bulk of her points in the paint, has made two of her four three-point attempts this season.
“It took me four years but I finally made a three,” Dittmer joked. “I don’t shoot those a lot.”
Ott continued her steady scoring pace, notching 15 points to go with nine rebounds. Even with Dittmer’s dominant streak of performances, it’s Ott who leads the team with 14.8 points per game.
Sophomore guards Sydney Anderson and Bree Porter both came off the bench with hot hands. Anderson made four of six three-pointers en route to a career-best 14 points, and Porter added a career-best 10 points.
Burger initiated the ball movement for many of Hillsdale’s scoring opportunities and tallied a career-best eight assists.
Hillsdale has two games remaining on its schedule before the G-MAC tournament begins. Its home finale is scheduled for Saturday, when Ohio Valley University (0-22, 0-18) visits for a 1 p.m. tip off. Saturday is Senior Day, which should be a special moment for the four seniors on the roster, including those who don’t see the floor as much as other players. Still, Fritsche said the attitude and work ethic of the senior class has been superb all year.
“You don’t have to have a good play to have fun. You can experience joy from someone else’s good play,” Fritsche said. “My seniors aren’t done with the year. They’re all in.”
A week later, Hillsdale wraps up its regular season on the road against the University of Findlay (18-6, 15-5).
“We’re playing for each other now,” Gray said. “We’re really starting to come together at the end of the season, and it reflects in how we play. It’s nice to be a part of and to watch as well.”
