The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team tasted a long-awaited victory this week after a string of close losses over the latter half of the season. After a win over Ferris State Thursday and a close loss to Grand Valley State Saturday, the Chargers hope for a strong finish against Saginaw Valley tonight in their final game of the season.
“The last two games against Ferris State and Grand Valley were very similar to our last few games in that we played some very good basketball for much of the game,” head coach Todd Mitmesser said. “There were stretches in the second half when we didn’t play as well in terms of what we were trying to do offensively and defensively, but we had many areas where we showed improvement.”
Fired up after a last-second loss to Northern Michigan last week, the Chargers played an explosive first half in their 74-63 victory over Ferris State.
The Chargers led 46-21 going into halftime, capitalizing on strong performances from freshman Allie Dewire and sophomore Allie Dittmer to earn their first win since their first matchup with Ferris State at the end of January.
“We knew we could win this one if we pulled together, and we played solid ball,” freshman Brittany Gray said. “We shut down the post on defense and got the ball to our posts on offense.”
Dewire’s four assists, nine rebounds, and 14 points contributed to a total of 27 fast-break points as the Charger offense moved at its usual furious rate. The Chargers also scored 40 points in the paint, feeding off 16 points from Dittmer.
“Allie Dittmer is a natural down in the post, and that’s where she’s comfortable,” Mitmesser said. “But a lot of guards aren’t good defending the post, so we post up our guards. But Allie Dewire is also a good post player, even though she’s one of the shortest players on the team. Morgan Blair is another one, and Makenna Ott is the third. We’ve had a lot of success in the post in the last couple weeks.”
Senior Sarah Theut, who contributed seven points and seven rebounds, said consistent scoring from the team’s younger players helps the whole team.
“Allie Dittmer and Makenna Ott have stepped up and they’re hitting a lot of shots,” Theut said. “That’s huge because we haven’t had a lot of people putting up big numbers, and now that we are, it’s helping us as a team. Because then if the defense focuses on them, we have other people who can score. It’s tough to guard us in that aspect, because it’s not just one player who can score.”
The Chargers celebrated their six seniors before their final home game Saturday against the Grand Valley State Lakers. Though the Lakers pulled ahead in the second half of the fourth quarter to defeat the Chargers 71-65, the Chargers played an even game, showing improvement on defense, Mitmesser said.
“We’re doing a really good job at reading defenses and making appropriate passes and drives based on what the defense is and who the defender is,” he said.
The Chargers fought back after falling behind 7-0 in a defensive battle in the first quarter, trailing by only one point at the half. Ott led the offensive charge again with 21 points, including 5-for-6 shooting from the 3-point line.
Though the Chargers couldn’t pull off a comeback after Ott put the Chargers up by one point late in the fourth quarter, Theut said her team has grown since the last time they played Grand Valley.
“We pushed through and gave Grand Valley a game,” Theut said. “I don’t think they thought they were going to have a game with us.”
Gray said her teammates are already looking ahead to next season’s matchup against Grand Valley.
“With the experience we have, next year we’ll give them a better game,” Gray said.
The Chargers travel to University Center for a rematch against Saginaw Valley in their final game of the season 6 p.m. Thursday.
In their final game, Theut said the Chargers hope to complete what they started earlier this season.
“The Saginaw Valley game was the first time when we started to work together,” Theut said. “We were up in the first half, and then we couldn’t shut down one of the posts. But that was when everything really started coming together. So we want to get a win. We want to end on a good note.”
