After a tough 75-74 overtime loss against Purdue University Northwest Nov. 8, the Hillsdale women’s basketball team rebounded with a 76-52 win against the University of Illinois-Springfield Nov. 9. Both games were played at PNW Fitness & Recreation Center in Hammond, Indiana.

Senior guard Lauren McDonald led the Chargers in points in both games, with 25 on Friday and 19 on Saturday.

“It was a team effort,” McDonald said. “Having my teammates being ready and being a threat as well allowed me to get open looks.”

The Chargers got out to an 8-0 lead before Purdue Northwest closed the gap to 13-12 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Chargers led by 12 points with 5:14 left in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by sophomore Annalise Pietrzyk. Purdue again closed the gap to 46-43 at the end of the quarter.

With 30 seconds left in regulation, the Chargers trailed 62-57, but two free throws from senior Caitlin Splain and a 3-pointer from sophomore Savannah Smith with 15 seconds left forced the game into overtime.

The Chargers led by two with 10 seconds left, but a costly turnover led to a Purdue 3-pointer, sealing the game.

“It was our first official game, so there were some nerves,” McDonald said. “As the game went on, and especially into the second game, we got a lot better with playing as a team. Defensively, it just got better as we went along.”

Head coach Brianna Brennan said the Friday loss motivated the team to push forward.

“Losing by one in overtime definitely lit a fire under us,” Brennan said. “We wanted it so badly and we worked hard. We definitely had some defensive lapses and we were up 12 in the third, so it was super hard to lose a lead like that. Although we wanted to win, there was so much that we learned from it.”

Brennan said the team did a mental reset after that first game.

“When you play back-to-back games you have to let go of the first game pretty quickly, no matter what happens,” Brennan said. “We did focus on turning the page and mentally being ready to go for UIS, and we did that, which was awesome.”

The Chargers led wire-to-wire in Saturday’s game after a layup from McDonald 17 seconds into the first quarter.

“I don’t think we played our best basketball Friday, but we were able to stay in it and just lost on an unlucky shot in the end,” Splain said. “We were able to bounce back and do what we didn’t do in the first game, which was great, especially with the short turnaround.”

Brennan said she saw encouraging signs for the team going forward, especially against the University of Illinois-Springfield.

“That second game, the way we shared the ball was really encouraging,” Brennan said. “We have a lot of depth. Because of that, on any given night, a different player could be our leading scorer. When we move the ball the way we did in that second game, it’s pretty high level and it’s just going to make it that much harder for teams to stop us.”

The Chargers play their next game Friday, Nov. 15, at Saginaw Valley State University.