Jackets Use Strong Defensive Effort to Rout Manchester

N. MANCHESTER, Ind. – Defiance had one of its best defensive outings of the season, holding Manchester College in check in a 74-52 blowout of the defending HCAC champion. The Jackets snapped a five-game losing streak with the victory, defeating Manchester for the first time in the last nine games.

DC never trailed in the game, using a stifling defense to hold the Spartans to just 52 points and improve to 7-5 on the road. The Jackets limited Manchester to 32.7 percent shooting from the field, while holding reigning HCAC MVP, Kelley Meiklejohn, to just 10 points.

The Jackets forced 30 turnovers in the game, converting those mishaps into 22 points. Defiance racked up 19 thefts, led by Katie Carunchia's career-high four steals. Tasha Stucke added three steals to go along with her game-high four assists.

Shavonda Price scored a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers, while also pulling down a career-best 11 rebounds. Courtney Schmersal finished with 13 points and a pair of steals, while Mandie White was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe on her way to 10 points.

Defiance jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage, but Manchester behind the senior duo of Sarah Bose and Meiklejohn would knot the game at 7-7 with 13:56 remaining. However, the Jackets opened up a double-digit lead over the next two minutes, as a steal and a bucket by Shavonda Price capped off a 10-0 spurt by DC.

Manchester pulled within three on a Rachel Wilkinson trey late in the first stanza, but the Jackets would close the half with the final 11 points. Tasha Stucke capped off the run with a bucket at the buzzer to give DC a 15-point advantage, 37-22, at the break.

Defiance continued its onslaught in the second half, watching its lead grow to 21, 48-27, on a Schmersal trifecta with 15:26 remaining. The Spartans responded with a 7-0 run to cut the spread to 14, but a Carunchia layup concluded an eight-point swing by DC that pushed the lead to 22, 56-34. The Jackets were able to answer a pair of Manchester runs in the final five minutes, never allowing the lead to dip below 16 the rest of the way to record the victory.

Defiance (7-12) returns to action on Wednesday, February 4, when it travels to Lima, Ohio for a makeup date with Northwestern Ohio. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.