Freshman Savannah Smith grabbed six points on Saturday. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
After forcing overtime on a buzzer-beater from junior point guard Lauren McDonald, the Chargers dominated in the added minutes to defeat Malone University 71-61 at home Jan 17. The team continued its hot streak Saturday with a third straight win, taking Kentucky Wesleyan College 73-68.
Head coach Brianna Brennan said morale is running high as Hillsdale improves to 9-8 overall, 5-4 in the G-MAC.
“To have a win like that just solidifies that we belong here, and we’re going to compete with anyone every single time we step on the court,” Brennan said.
Malone’s defense slowed the pace of the game, Brennan said.
“Malone uses a three-quarter court press, and they show it just to slow us down so we have less time to run our offense in the half court,” Brennan said. “That forced us to not be able to get the flow of our offense going.”
Hillsdale kept it close in the first half but trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter. The Chargers stepped up their offensive pressure and brought it back to a 55-55 tie in the final minutes. The Pioneers went 2-for-4 at the foul line to gain a 57-55 advantage with 30 seconds left on the clock but failed to put the game out of reach.
With just seven seconds on the clock, Splain got the ball for a 3-point attempt. She missed, but junior Kendall McCormick grabbed the long rebound and found McDonald in the lane for the game-tying basket as time ran out.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, if she misses it’s over,’” McDonald said. “But then we got the rebound. It’s one of those things that you’re happy it happened.”
Splain set the tone with a layup and free throw on the Chargers’ first possession, and Hillsdale opened overtime with an 11-0 run. Malone cut the difference to eight on back-to-back possessions, but McDonald sealed the victory for the Chargers with two points at the free throw line.
The Chargers focused on defense with a full-court press in overtime.
“We noticed getting stops making our offense better, so focusing on that and putting more pressure on them with a full-court press helped us a lot,” McDonald said.
In addition to her game-tying buzzer-beater, McDonald tied her career high of 22 points in the contest and added five rebounds and two assists.
Senior center Ashley Konkle led the team with 12 rebounds, nine points, and three assists. McCormick chipped in six points, four rebounds, and a game-high four assists. Sydney Mills gave the team a huge lift off the bench in her first game since her injury, scoring nine of her 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Chargers led the entire contest against Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday, establishing a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and keeping the pressure the whole way.
“They’re a very good shooting team, but they also love to get in the paint,” Brennan said. “We knew right away we had to jump on them and set the tone defensively to say we will make you uncomfortable. And that’s what we did in that first quarter.”
Kentucky Wesleyan tied it up once in the third quarter and trailed by only three entering the fourth quarter. The Chargers refused to back down on either end of the court and put the game out of reach thanks to a 3-point from McDonald and Konkle’s free throw shooting down the stretch.
Hillsdale dominated the glass the entire game, outrebounding Kentucky Wesleyan 48-33.
McDonald led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Splain scored 14 points and added four rebounds and two assists.
Konkle and Mills both had strong performances with nine points and seven rebounds each, and freshman Annalise Pietrzyk added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Mills was back on the court for the first time in over a month after being sidelined with an injury since the Dec. 9 road loss against Northwood.
“We don’t win close games against top-level teams without her,” Brennan said. “Having our fearless leader back on the floor really changes the tone for everyone that steps on the floor.”
Before Saturday, Hillsdale had lost to Kentucky Wesleyan in all of their 10 meetings since 2018. Their last match-up was the game that knocked Hillsdale out of the NCAA tournament in 2023 in an overtime battle.
“At that point, no matter what they were doing to us, it wasn’t phasing us,” Konkle said. “It was in the back of our heads, ‘no, we’re beating you guys. We want this so much more than you.’”
Konkle said the team is calling its current winning streak a revenge tour.
Hillsdale will look to continue that trend with a home game against Northwood University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
“The way we played when we first played them compared to now, we’re a completely different team,” Konkle said. “Everyone has found their role, and momentum is going our way. So we’re excited.”
