Sophomore guard Magdalena Sularski goes up for a shot
Courtesy | Ashley Van Hoose

The Hillsdale women’s basketball team lost to Walsh University 62–56 March 3 in the quarterfinals of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament to close out the regular season, following a 75–45 win against Findlay University Feb. 26 and a 69–67 loss against Northwood University Feb. 28.

The Chargers ended the season with a 15-12 record overall and finished fifth in the G-MAC standings with an 11-9 record.

“It’s been an awesome year and just so fun to go out and play with my best friends every day,” senior Emma Ruhlman said.

Hillsdale travelled to fourth-seed Walsh and led the Cavaliers 28–27 at halftime on Tuesday. Walsh outscored the Chargers 20–12 in the third quarter. Hillsdale cut Walsh’s lead to one point two different times in the final quarter but were never able to regain the lead.

“Walsh has the leading scorer in our conference on their team,” junior Savannah Smith said. 

Junior Annalise Pietrzyk led the Chargers with 15 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Sarah Aleknavicius added 9 points, and Smith added 8 points.

Pietrzyk and Smith finished the season as the Chargers two leading scorers, averaging 14.1 and 13.3 points-per-game, respectively.

Hillsdale clinched a berth in the G-MAC tournament with their win against Findlay University.

The Chargers’ 30-point victory over the Oilers was Hillsdale’s largest margin of victory all season.

“It was a rivalry game and we lost to them earlier in the year, so it was a really important win for us to get,” Ruhlman said. “And it’s just always fun winning big at home.”

Smith led the Chargers with 19 points. Sophomore Ellie Bruce contributed 11 points and sophomore Magdalena Sularski added 10 points and eight rebounds.

In the regular season finale, Senior Day, Hillsdale led Northwood for most of the second half before the Timberwolves took the lead late and ultimately prevailed. This loss was the end of the Chargers’ undefeated at home streak. 

Against Northwood, Pietrzyk led the Chargers with 14 points and five assists. Smith contributed 13 points, and sophomore guard Sarah Aleknavicius added 10 points.

 

For the season, Pietrzyk led the team in scoring with 382 points, assists with 76, and steals, with 28. Ruhlman led the team with 183 rebounds.

Hillsdale is expected to return everyone except seniors Payton Adkins and Emma Ruhlman on next year’s team.

Adkins and Ruhlman both played four seasons for the Chargers and were part of the team’s run to the NCAA Division II tournament last season.

“Payton and Emma helped make our program so much stronger over the past four years from a work ethic and leadership standpoint,” head coach Brianna Brennan said.