Hillsdale women’s basketball defeated Cedarville University 81-66 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday and defeated Malone University 68-61 on Saturday, March 1.

“This is the farthest anyone on our current team has made it, which is really motivating,” sophomore Annalise Pietrzyk said.

Since the Chargers were ranked second in conference, Hillsdale hosted the quarterfinal at home for the first time since 2008-09.

“It was the first time we hosted the first round in a long time so we all were super pumped,” senior Kendall McCormick said. 

The victory also marked the Chargers’ first 20-win season since the 2008-09 season. 

Hillsdale had the lead 21-17 by the end of the first quarter but widened their lead in the second quarter, outscoring Cedarville 23-7. 

“The first quarter wasn’t our best but the second quarter I think we showed exactly who we are and showed the G-MAC that we are a good team,” senior Caitlin Splain said.

While Cedarville closed the gap to 15 points, they remained behind the Chargers the entire game.

Cedarville double-teamed senior Lauren McDonald and held her to nine points, but in doing so opened up centers senior Marilyn Popplewell and freshman Ellie Bruce, who scored 12 and 18 points respectively. 

Splain finished with 16 points, four assists, and five rebounds. McCormick led the team defensively with nine points, six rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Pietrzyk had eight points and four rebounds.

The Chargers also defeated Malone University 68-61 on Saturday, March 1, Malone’s senior night. The game marked the end of the Chargers’ regular season, and Hillsdale finished second in the G-MAC.

The victory made the Chargers’ record 19-9 for the season and 16-4 in the G-MAC, the best season finish since 2008-2009. 

The Chargers started strong and established a 20-10 lead in the first quarter, but Malone outscored Hillsdale 16-6, tying the game in the second quarter.

“We’ve needed to come back from a deficit before, and our girls are very resilient, so they don’t let many things raise them,” head coach Brianna Brennan said.

In the third quarter, Malone took the lead 42-32.

“Malone came into the third quarter with a lot of energy. It was noticeable that our girls were a little bit down on themselves, so we subbed Kendall McCormick back in because she’s by far our best defender,” Brennan said.

Brennan said she told McCormick to get her teammates back in the right defensive mindset and to take ownership of the defense.

“She really ran with it,” Brennan said. “Her defense was electric, and she really set the tone defensively.”

Hillsdale rallied early in the fourth quarter and went on a 13-0 run to retake the lead but lost it to Malone again 56-53 with four minutes left.

Bruce made a layup, and freshman Sarah Aleknavicius had a block that allowed McDonald to hit a pull-up jumper. 

“Sarah got a huge block for us when we really needed a stop,” McDonald said.

Junior Emma Ruhlman scored a 3-pointer, and McDonald hit another jumper after a turnover.

“Our defense toward the end of the game really helped us,” McDonald said.

McDonald had four points on the line and finished with a career high of 30 points and 10 rebounds. Splain made another layup to secure the Chargers’ victory.

“Lauren had a great game,” Splain said. “We always talk about how, whenever we play, it could be anybody’s night to go off, and that was definitely Lauren’s game.”

Splain also had 11 points, four assists, four rebounds, and two steals, and Ruhlman had 10 points and two steals.

Senior Kendall McCormick had six points and six rebounds.

Senior Marilyn Popplewell had four points and six rebounds, and Bruce had four points and four rebounds.

Hillsdale also outrebounded their opponents 39-33.

The Chargers will advance to the G-MAC Semifinal this Friday, where they will again play Malone in Ashland, Ohio, on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“We just played Malone on Saturday and it was a really competitive game, so the game on Friday will definitely be intense,” McCormick said. “We are super blessed to be able to still be playing because a lot of people are done. We are hoping to win Friday and make it to the conference final game on Saturday.”

The winner of the championship game on Saturday will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA DII tournament.