Averkamp celebrates 100th career win

Home Sports Homepage - Sports Averkamp celebrates 100th career win
Averkamp celebrates 100th career win
The women’s basketball team practices and prepares for its upcoming season.

The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team brought home a victory against Trevecca Nazarene University on Jan. 21. The Chargers led the entire game, winning 84-68.

Thursday’s win not only gave the Chargers a much-needed confidence boost ー it was also head coach Charlie Averkamp’s 100th career win.

“To see everything cultivate in a really big team win is so exciting because the kids really bought into how we were gonna play that game,” Averkamp said. “It’s fun to see them be successful. When they make shots, it’s pretty fun to watch.”

Averkamp attributed the team’s success to the hard work his athletes have been putting in during practice.

“It was awesome, it was a great feeling,” senior guard Jaycie Burger said. “We definitely needed a win to help boost our confidence and that was a great win to do it. It was just the cherry on top that it was his 100th win.”

The best part of the win against Trevecca was seeing the players work together in every part of the court, Averkamp said. 

“We got a lot of different contributions from a lot of different people. I think that’s one of our biggest strengths is the depth of our team,” Averkamp said. “Second half, Touchette really took over. In the third and fourth quarter, she just did a really good job handling the basketball and getting it into the basket. Sydney Mills has been playing really well for us the last few weeks. She’s someone we can really count on to knock down big shots, and get stops on the defensive end. Just watching her game grow as a sophomore has been really fun to watch.”

Averkamp said his success as a coach has been made possible only through the hard work of the players and the help from assistant coaches.

“It’s really a testament to all the kids who have come before, and everyone who’s played in our program,” Averkamp said. “To look back on those wins and some of those memories is pretty fun. It’s fun to see, in a kid, when something clicks after you’ve been working on it in practice and they do it in a game and kind of look over at you. There have been a lot of victories we’ve had, and some crushing defeats, and part of sports and the idea of getting to compete with a good group of people is fun.”

Junior guard Grace Touchette said she thought her teammates brought a lot of excitement and energy to the court, helping the Chargers take and keep the lead. 

“I think our game against Trevecca was a really good game for us because as a team we were playing very well together,” Touchette said. “No matter how many runs they went on, we kept them under control and went on runs of our own.”

Touchette said she was excited for Averkamp, and that his coaching has really helped her and her teammates grow as players.

“He is a great coach,” Touchette said. “He pushes us all the time to get out of our comfort zones and to get better. It was really exciting for him to get his 100th win. I wish it could’ve been earlier or at home, but it was really fun and he’s a super great guy and he’s done a lot already to get us where we want to be going.”

Though the Chargers left Trevecca with a lot of momentum, they fell to Kentucky Wesleyan University on Jan. 23, with a finishing score of 97-73.

Averkamp said that he thought the Chargers played a strong game despite the loss, since Kentucky Wesleyan is one of the better teams in the league.

“They jumped on us early but we came back and tied it in the first quarter,” Averkamp said. “I thought we played very well and shot almost 50% from the field. We just turned the basketball over too much and I think that’s been our achilles heel this season. If we can limit our turnovers, we’ve got a good chance to win.”

Starting this week, the Chargers will be allowed to have spectators at home games. Averkamp said the team is looking forward to having fans in the stands.

“I think, especially when you play at home, it’s always nice to see friendly faces,” Averkamp said. “When you make a few shots in a row, it gets the home crowd going and can change momentum a little bit. I think they play a big part in our team’s success.”

This week, the Chargers will play at home against Lake Erie College on Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m. and Ohio Dominican University on Jan. 30 at 1 p.m., and away at Tiffin University on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. 

To secure tickets for games, visit https://hillsdale.universitytickets.com 24 hours before the event’s start time. Tickets will be $5 and there will be a capacity limit of 250 spectators. A certain number of seats will be reserved for families of student-athletes and coaches, as well as Hillsdale College students.