Lady Jackets edged by Mount St. Joseph
Nick Williams, Assistant SID

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Lady Jacket Basketball Team narrowly missed picking up its first conference win of the season, as DC lost to the College of Mount St. Joseph at home by the score 67-62.

The Lions were the first on the board, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. MSJ maintained its lead throughout the first half of the period, yet DC cut the advantage to only one when a Sarah Grime free throw made the score 8-7. The Jackets were able to keep the deficit at no more than five for the first half of the period, with the score 16-12 at the ten-minute mark. At this point, the Lions went on a 9-4 run to stretch the lead to nine with under six minutes to play. After a DC timeout helped the team regain its composure, the Jackets stormed out on a 15-7 run of their own to make the score 32-31 with only 18 seconds left in the half. However, the Lions tacked on three more points at the end of the half with a trey in the closing seconds.

At the beginning of the second half, MSJ threw on a full court press that pressured the DC offense continuously, as evidenced by three turnovers in the first three minutes. The Lions were able to use the turnovers to their advantage and take another nine point lead. Though the Yellow Jackets were able to cut the lead to four, MSJ put the heat on the Jackets again, forcing turnovers that would lead to the largest lead of the game at 10 with 13 minutes left to play. Over the next ten minutes of the game, the Jackets could not pull closer than seven, with the score 61-54 with 3:26 to play. With the Lions spreading the floor and taking time off the clock, the Jackets began to put MSJ on the line. The strategy worked, as the Lions hit only two of six free throws over the next three minutes. As the Jackets crashed the boards on the misses, the team was able to come down the court and capitalize on the opportunity to make a late comeback, as shots by Kayla Mengerink, Kara Jones, and Meghann Savard over that period pulled the deficit to only three with the score 65-62 with five seconds left. It proved to be too little, too late, as the Lions sank both free throws after a foul by Savard to make it a five-point game with four seconds left.

The Jackets were able to get the shots they were looking for, as Defiance outshot the Lions from the field (44%-42.2%), the free throw line (73.7%-55%), and from three-point range (33.3%-25%). What proved to be the downfall was the Jackets’ rebounding, as MSJ outrebounded DC 46-26, including 20 offensive compared to three for DC.

Savard led the way for DC with 23 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Sarah Bird added 15 points, three boards, and three assists. Sarah Grime scored 11 and grabbed five rebounds.

Defiance, now 3-12 overall and 0-4 in the HCAC, travels to Indiana to take on Anderson University on Wednesday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m.