Sydney Mills drives to the basket against the Roosevelt University Lakers last season. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

Despite a rally in the fourth quarter and a double-double from senior forward Sydney Mills, the Chargers fell 62-58 to Purdue University Northwest on the road Friday. The next day, the Chargers fell again 82-58 to the University of Illinois-Springfield in Hammond, Indiana.

“I think we did really well not getting down when the other team went on a lead,” assistant coach Morgan Litwiller said. “They had poise and composure, and they knew their own strength.” 

Trailing 55-43 in the final seven minutes against Purdue Northwest, Hillsdale went on a 15-2 run to take a one-point lead off of a 3-pointer from junior guard Lauren McDonald with 3:10 on the clock. 

“We were playing really good team basketball, just seeing the open player, getting into good gaps, and then kicking it out for threes from lots of different people,” Mills said. 

Purdue took the lead back off of a layup with 1:29 left. Despite several good looks to tie it up in the last 30 seconds, Hillsdale came up short as Purdue Northwest sealed the game at the free throw line. 

“I’m just very proud of how the girls continued to work and just continued to focus on what we could control in that moment,” head coach Brianna Brennan said. “Didn’t quite go our way even down the stretch before those last 30 seconds. We missed a couple of bunnies around the hoop that normally we would make. Sometimes that happens.”

Mills led in two categories with a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double in the contest. Sophomore Sydney Pnacek scored 14 points off the bench in her first collegiate game after redshirting freshman year. Junior Caitlin Splain added another 14 points, playing the entire contest for the Chargers.

After the team graduated six seniors in the spring, Mills is the only returning starter. 

“We’re inexperienced court-wise,” Mills said. “We’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to move the ball to each other, how to connect off one another well, and so that’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve starting this season.” 

On Saturday, the Chargers couldn’t recover from a 31-17 first quarter against Illinois-Springfield. The Prairie Stars went 68.4% from beyond the arc in the contest. Though the Chargers rallied to outscore the Prairie Stars 18-17 in the second quarter, they couldn’t come back from the initial deficit. 

“Defensively we came out a little flat,” Brennan said. “We weren’t communicating super well, and we weren’t working as a team. Springfield had a lot of very quick, very athletic guards. We just struggled to keep them in front or be able to help each other in our gaps in our defense.” 

McDonald led scoring with 14 points for the Chargers. Junior guard Kendall McCormick and Splain also scored in double digits with 12 and 13 points respectively. 

The Chargers will try to bounce back from their 0-2 start in another double header this week, facing Quincy University and McKendree University on the road Friday and Saturday.

“We knew that there were going to be ups and downs going into our first weekend, and we know that there still will be to come,” Brennan said. “And so if we’re just focusing on using every game as a learning opportunity, we’ll end up getting to be where we need to be, which is super exciting. And the players know that and they’re ready for that.”