Junior Caitlin Splain scored 16 points against Northwood. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department 

After falling to Northwood University 76-68 Jan. 25, the Hillsdale women’s basketball team bounced back to dominate Cedarville University for a 77-48 road win on Saturday.

“Every game is a close game in our league,” senior forward Sydney Mills said. “For Cedarville, we knew we had to be ultra focused especially coming off of a loss, and we honed in a lot defensively, which is the reason we played so well against them.”

Hillsdale emerges from the weekend 10-9 overall, 6-5 in the G-MAC, and currently sits in eighth place in the G-MAC, a rank it must hold onto for a berth in the conference tournament. 

The Chargers led the Northwood Timberwolves by as many as seven points in the first half and trailed by only four at the end of the third quarter. 

Northwood upped the offensive pressure in the final quarter to pull away with a 10-0 run. Despite four points from junior guard Caitlin Splain late, the Chargers couldn’t recover. 

“Down the stretch, we struggled to get the easy baskets that we were getting early on,” head coach Brianna Brennan said. “I think we got a little tight offensively and instead of making some of the easy passes and getting the ball movement we needed, we were trying to force a lot.”

Brennan said the team made mistakes in transition defense, allowing Northwood to get easy buckets.

“Even though we did it decently well at times, there were just too many lapses where we weren’t communicating enough and we weren’t sprinting back enough to get those early stops,” Brennan said.

The Chargers struggled on the glass, conceding 14 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points to the Timberwolves. 

Splain put up 16 points and grabbed six rebounds against Northwood, and Mills got her first double-double since her injury with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Lauren McDonald added eight points, and freshmen guard Annalise Pietrzyk and forward Savannah Smith both had strong nights off the bench with 10 points and eight points respectively.

Heading into the road win Saturday, Hillsdale was fighting with Cedarville for the eighth spot in the conference.

After a competitive first quarter, Hillsdale took control on both ends of the floor and established an eight-point halftime lead. Hillsdale outscored Cedarville 36-14 in the second and third quarters to further that lead, including a 17-0 run in the third quarter.

“Unlike the Northwood game, we started this game very well,” Splain said. “Even though the game was close after the first quarter, our energy had been there from the start. Everyone was contributing and it carried with us to the end of the game.”

The Chargers grabbed 54 rebounds for Cedarville’s 30 and held the Yellowjackets to 29.3% from the floor and 19.2% 3-point shooting with only one made 3-point after the first quarter. 

Hillsdale had a strong shooting night all around with almost the entire dressed roster adding points. Junior guard Kendall McCormick added 10 points, McDonald added 14 points and six rebounds, and Splain led the team again with 16 points. 

“We have so many players capable of scoring,” Brennan said. “So when we share the ball, our offense looks really great”

Mills and redshirt freshman forward Sydney Pnacek just missed a double-double each with nine points and 12 rebounds in the contest.

Brennan said Pnacek has been consistently playing well for the team. 

“She was an absolute terror on the boards, which was so fun to see,” Brennan said. “She’s been putting in a lot of hard work to be able to do that.”

The Chargers will begin a three-game road stretch this week, facing current G-MAC second-place Ursuline College on Feb. 3. 

Brennan said the team will emphasize defending in transition and sharing the ball offensively against Ursuline.

“We’re excited to step into their gym and show them we’re a hot team,” Mills said. “We’ve been really progressing lately and we’re getting better at the right time.”