Three players scored in double figures for the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team as the Chargers defeated Olivet in an exhibition game by a final score of 81-6.
Junior Megan Fogt had a double-double for her third consecutive game, tallying 12 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Angela Bisaro added 18 points and junior Broke Borowski put in 13, including three three-pointers.
After a slow start in which Olivet put up seven unanswered points to start the game, the Chargers went on a 23-5 run to go up by 11 with 10:46 remaining in the first half. The team never looked back.
The game against Olivet came only three days after the Chargers played a back-to-back in Austin, Texas. The team dropped both games, 80-70 to St. Edwards on Friday night and 64-56 against Central Oklahoma on Saturday night. The Chargers won many of the important statistical battles, including field goal percentage and rebounds, in both games. Playing against St. Edwards, Marissa DeMott scored 24 points, including six three-pointers on just 11 attempts.
“She [DeMott] is a shooter,” head coach Claudette Charney said. “She can shoot it from the arc and is an experienced player.”
“I really had a good flow of the game,” DeMott said concerning her performance. Unfortunately, the team’s good shooting and rebounding were marred by turnovers and fouls. The two main things that the Chargers will take away from their back-to-back in Austin are protecting the ball and being more careful on the defensive end.
“We’ve got to clean up the turnovers,” Charney said. The team committed a total of 57 turnovers during the two games, leading to 48 points for their opponents.
“We need to reduce our turnovers, and we need to stop fouling,” Fogt said. The Chargers’ opposition drew a total of 68 free-throw attempts, converting 58 of them.
The increase in fouls can be partly attributed to a change in emphasis for referees this season in the NCAA. The NCAA has enacted rules to help increase offensive production as the national scoring average has been dropping recently.
“The rules are changed a little bit to not allow so much contact and physicality,” Charney said. “Every game is going to be different and our players have to adjust in the game on the fly.”
Next weekend the Chargers will travel to Springfield, Ill. for another back-to-back against two non-conference opponents, McKendree and Ill.-Springfield, before opening their conference schedule at Northwood on December 5.
