Lady Jackets Handed a Tough Loss on the Road

BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Lady Jackets were handed their first road loss since January 6th on Wednesday night, falling 96-91, in an overtime decision at Bluffton University (8-16, 5-11 HCAC). With the loss, Defiance drops into the fourth seed in the HCAC as the final week of the regular season approaches.

The Jackets had trouble taking care of the ball to start the game, committing three turnovers in the first five minutes, and allowing the Beavers to jump out to an early 11-5 lead. A three-pointer by Bluffton's Vicki Auer gave the Beavers a, 20-13, lead at the 9:32 mark, but Courtney Schmersal began to find her stroke, hitting two quick shots to cut DC's deficit to two points with just under eight minutes remaining in the period. The Beavers would grab their biggest lead of the half (26-18) at the 6:34 mark, but the Jackets hit eight of their final 12 shots in the period, fueling an extended 22-7 run that saw the Jackets leading by seven (40-33) at the break.

Defiance carried the momentum into the second half, doubling their halftime lead to claim a 14 point advantage midway through the period. However, the Jackets were held scoreless over the next two minutes while Bluffton put up 10 quick points to cut DC's lead to four with 7:51 remaining in regulation. The Jackets got back on track and recaptured a double-digit lead (76-66) with just 2:44 left on the clock, but the Beavers ended the half on a 13-3 run, capped by a Rachel Daman jumper with three seconds left, to force the game into overtime.

Bluffton hit 71.4 percent of their shots in the overtime period, and earned eight more trips to the charity stripe than the Jackets to claim the six-point victory. The Jackets had eight more field goal attempts than the Beavers in overtime, but could not overcome Bluffton's sharpshooting accuracy.

Six Yellow Jackets posted double-digit scoring on the night, led by Schmersal's 19 points on seven-of-13 shooting. Tasha Stucke stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mandie White notched her ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Brooke Zachrich had a fine showing with 12 points, five boards and five assists.

The Lady Jackets will cap off the regular season on Saturday, February 20, with a game at league-leading Franklin College (18-6, 12-3 HCAC). If the Jackets can get a win against the Grizzlies, they could potentially move up to the third seed in the HCAC Tournament with a loss by Hanover, who will be playing at Anderson. DC's date with Franklin on Saturday is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.