King, Harshman Lead Jackets to Victory Over Earlham

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College women's basketball team used 19 points from Erica King and 16 points from Hannah Harshman to roll to a 70-57 victory over Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Earlham College.

The Quakers took the first lead of the game, 4-0, over the first two minutes of the game. Defiance used a 7-0 run to take back the lead at the 15:18 mark in the half. A short run by Earlham gave the Quakers a 11-9 lead with 12:55 left in the half, but a three-pointer by DC junior Rachel Ciminillo put the Yellow Jackets in the lead for good.

Ciminillo's three-pointer sparked Defiance into an 11-2 run that gave the Purple and Gold and eight-point advantage, 20-12. During the run the Yellow Jackets got three points from Ciminillo, two points from Harshman, two from Megan Zachrich and four from King.

Earlham cut the lead to four points, 24-20, with 3:38 left in the half on a jumper by Emily Sells. DC pushed the lead back to eight points, 30-22, after a driving layup by sophomore Ashley Birchmeier, but the Quakers kept the game close in the final seconds of the half. The two teams went into the locker rooms with Defiance leading, 30-26.

Defiance jumped out to a ten-point lead, 36-26, to start the second half after buckets by sophomore Kim Bingley, junior Kim Comden and Harshman. A three-point play by Comden with 13:36 remaining boosted the Jackets to an 11-point advantage, 41-30.

The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 15 points in the second half, 66-51, after a pair of free throws by King.  Defiance cruised to the 13-point victory by hitting foul shots down the stretch.

Defiance held a 47-37 edge in rebounds as Comden pulled down nine boards, while Harshman and senior Brooke Zachrich added eight rebounds and six boards, respectively. Zachrich gave the Yellow Jackets a boost in the second half with five offensive rebounds.

King finished the night seven-of-14 shooting and five-of-seven from the free throw line. She added four rebounds in the win. Harshman was seven-of-14 from the field and two-of-two at the line.

Comden narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. She also added a game-high five blocks. Brooke Zachrich tallied six points, and Ciminillo finished with six points and three assists.

With the win, Defiance improves to 10-12 overall and 8-7 in the HCAC. Earlham falls to 3-19 overall and 1-14 in the league. The Quakers were paced by Charvonne Long's 11 points.

Defiance will return to action on Saturday, February 11 at Rose-Hulman. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm and can be watched live on the Yellow Jackets Sports Network at www.defianceathletics.com/video/.