Women's Basketball Loses to Kentucky and Beats Thomas More

Hillsdale’s women’s basketball team lost to Kentucky Wesleyan College 71-68 on Feb. 8, and senior Lauren McDonald scored the 1,000th point of her collegiate career. The Chargers also beat Thomas Moore University 65-59 on Feb. 6.

“We had two travel games this week, and we knew that it was going to be a challenging week going into it,” head coach Brianna Brennen said.

In the Kentucky game, McDonald tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Caitlin Splain sank five three-point shots to collect 20 points overall and four assists for the Chargers.

Freshman Ellie Bruce scored six points in her first start for the Chargers, and senior Kendall McCormick added an additional nine points.

Junior Emma Ruhlman had five points, four assists, and seven rebounds.

The Chargers trailed Kentucky by close to 11 points for most of the game but made a run at the start of the fourth quarter to close the gap.

Hillsdale went ahead 66-65 after a score from senior Marilyn Popplewell, but a 3-pointer gave Kentucky the lead back, and they maintained it for the rest of the game.

Kentucky was effective from 3-point range throughout the night, making it difficult for the Chargers to pull ahead.

“It was competitive the whole time, but we had some defensive breakdowns,” McCormick said.

The Wildcats also improved their rebounding since their last matchup against the Chargers a week prior, scoring 22 points off 13 offensive rebounds.

“That was not our best game,” McDonald said. “Our post player, Savannah Smith, was out because she rolled her ankle in our Thursday game. She would have made a big difference.”

The Chargers won their Thursday game against Thomas Moore 65-59.

“We were down for most of the game and had to battle from behind,” McCormick said. “That was a fun one to win.”

McDonald led the Chargers with 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Splain added 15 points, including three three-pointers, and sophomore Annylise Pietrzyk hit two threes as part of the Chargers comeback.

After Smith rolled her ankle early in the second half of the game, Bruce stepped in.

“[Bruce] was just so physical down the stretch, which is exactly what we needed to do with their post player,” Brennan said. “It’s really cool to see.”

Hillsdale is now 12-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and 15-7 overall. The Chargers are still in third place in G-MAC rankings.

The Chargers have five conference games remaining and will play at Tiffin University on Feb. 13.

Hillsdale’s women’s basketball team lost to Kentucky Wesleyan College 71-68 on Feb. 8 and senior Lauren McDonald scored the 1,000th point of her collegiate career. The Chargers also beat Thomas More University 65-59 on Feb. 6.

“We had two travel games this week, and we knew that it was going to be a challenging week going into it,” head coach Brianna Brennan said.

In the Kentucky Wesleyan game, McDonald tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The Chargers trailed Kentucky Wesleyan by close to 11 points for most of the game but made a run at the start of the fourth quarter to close the gap.

Hillsdale went ahead 66-65 after a basket from senior Marilyn Popplewell, but a 3-pointer gave Kentucky Wesleyan the lead back, and they maintained it for the rest of the game.