Women's Hoops Picks Up 63-57 Win Against Capital

Capital at Defiance Box Score

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance capped its non-conference portion of the 2006-2007 regular season slate with an impressive, 63-57, victory over Capital on Saturday afternoon inside the Weaner Community Center.

The Jackets led for 36:57 of the 40 minutes and never trailed by more than two points in the game, holding a one-point edge at the half before finally distancing themselves for the win with a 12-4 spurt in the closing minutes to break open a 44-44 tie and earn the six-point win.

Katie McNamara had the hot hand early, scoring the first eight points of the game for the Lady Jackets, and then knocked in what proved to be the biggest shot of the game with 4:14 remaining on the clock.

After Capital had clawed even at 44-44, McNamara tickled the twine from long distance to put DC on top for good at 47-44. The lead then grew to 54-48 on five-straight points from Sarah Bird and ballooned to eight points as Kayla Mengerink picked off a Capital pass and McNamara sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe on the other end to cap the game-changing rally.

McNamara led all scorers with 17 points and also turned in eight rebounds and four steals. Bird was right behind with 15 points, four boards, three assists and a steal and Mengerink added 14 points on seven-of-11 shooting while dishing out five helpers in 37 minutes of action. Mandy White just missed another double-double effort with nine points and eight rebounds.

Defiance got back in the win column thanks to a stout defensive showing and a determined effort on the battle of the glass. The Jackets held Capital to just four-of-22 shooting from three-point range and beat the Crusaders in rebounds by a 40-27 margin.

The Yellow Jackets (9-4, 2-2 HCAC) will get back into HCAC play next week when they host Rose-Hulman on Wednesday at 5:30 pm before hosting Mount St. Joseph on Saturday at 3:00 pm.