Hillsdale women’s basketball lost to the Northwood University Timberwolves at home 85-81 Saturday, Feb. 15, and defeated the Tiffin University Dragons away 65-43 on Thursday, Feb. 13. 

The Chargers played Northwood for a “Pink Out and Princess Night” in honor of Emerson Sigtryggsson, a Hillsdale student who passed away earlier this academic year.

Though Hillsdale trailed Northwood by more than 10 points for the majority of the game, the Chargers went on a 19-6 run in the fourth quarter and took the lead from Northwood at 81-79 with 1:34 left on the clock.

Northwood tied the game 81-81 with two free throws after a steal. They then made a layup and sunk two more free throws before the buzzer sounded to win the game.

Senior Lauren McDonald scored 23 points, with three assists, three steals, and eight rebounds for the Chargers. Freshman Ellie Bruce made two career records with 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

Senior Caitlin Splain had 10 points, including two from beyond the arc to break the women’s basketball program’s all-time record for 3-pointers.

Splain reached 239 3-pointers, surpassing Chelsea Harrison who recorded 237 3-pointers from 2008 to 2012.

“It was definitely surreal. This was something I had worked for since I stepped on campus,” Splain said. “I’m so thankful that I even had the opportunity to reach this milestone. I wouldn’t have achieved it without my teammates and coaches’ constant support.”

Junior Emma Ruhlman scored 11 points, freshman Annalise Pietrzyk scored nine points, and senior Marilyn Popplewell scored eight points and posted nine rebounds. 

The Chargers beat Northwood in rebounds 45-25 and had a season-high in offensive rebounds. 

On Thursday, the Chargers defeated Tiffin 65-43. 

The Chargers used a full-court press to undermine Tiffin’s offense in the third quarter and grew their lead from 7 to 17, according to McDonald. 

“Using the press forced Tiffin to have a lot of turnovers,” McDonald said.

Hillsdale continued to dominate throughout the fourth quarter and finished strong, forcing 19 turnovers and beating the Dragons in rebounds 49-37. 

Splain led the Chargers with 16 points, three rebounds, four steals, and three assists. McDonald had 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Senior Kendall McCormick added 10 points and four rebounds and Popplewell contributed 14 rebounds, a career record. 

The Chargers are now 13-4 in conference games and 16-8 overall with three games left in their regular season. They remain in third place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Hillsdale will next play the University of Findlay Oilers away on Thursday.

“Findlay is a huge game for us,” McCormick said. “We need one more win to have a first round home game in the conference tournament so we are pumped up for that.”