Comeback Effort Falls Short as Battling Bishops Best Defiance

BEREA, Ohio – In the consolation game of the Baldwin-Wallace Tournament, the DC women's basketball team fought hard against the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan, but came up short by a score of 70-68 on Saturday, November 23. OWU improves to 2-2, while the Jackets drop to 1-2.

In the first half, the two squads fought for an early advantage, but action remained tight as the score sat at 14-15 OWU after 10 minutes. The Purple and Gold then made the first run in the game and had a 31-21 advantage with just under two and a half minutes left in the first period.

However, Ohio Wesleyan closed out the half on fire. The Bishops shot a perfect 4-for-4 the rest of the way and held DC scoreless, while causing four turnovers. Its spurt to end the period made the score 33-31 OWU heading into the locker-room.

Out of the break, the two teams continued to compete in the game. The Battling Bishops maintained their lead midway through the second half but were not able to extend it to more than five points.

After a jumper at the 10-minute mark by senior Erica King (Wauseon, Ohio/Pettisville), DC trailed by only one point at 47-48. Unfortunately, OWU got hot again and went on another scoring surge.

Ohio Wesleyan chalked up 17 points to DC's 5 over the next five-plus minutes and held a comfortable 65-52 with just over four minutes left on the clock. 

But the Purple and Gold women's basketball team did not give up and put together one last push to get back into the game. A layup by senior Kim Bingley (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) followed by two makes from freshman Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio/Patrick Henry) slashed the OWU lead to a deuce at 63-65 with a minute to play.

With 20 seconds on the clock, the Bishops Megan Kuether drained a pair of clutch free throws to make it 65-69. The makes from the charity stripe were extremely important to the OWU win, because King came down the court and sunk a three pointer with eight seconds to go.

Unfortunately, the Lady Jackets amazing comeback effort was not enough. Ohio Wesleyan hit another free throw to make the score 68-70 and that was the final score, as DC was unable to get off a last-second shot.

In the loss, Tietje continued her unbelievable start with Defiance basketball. The Deshler, Ohio native put together her third-consecutive 20-10 double-double. Tietje raked in 23 points and 10 boards, while shooting 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from the field. She also added a block and a steal in the contest.

Tietje has certainly made her case for Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the week and possibly even a shot at national player of the week. In her first week of play, the freshman averaged 24 points (62.0 percent), 10.3 rebounds, one block and one steal per game.

Senior Hannah Harshman (Ohio City, Ohio/Parkway) also put together a solid outing. After going 1-of-6 from the floor with two points on Friday night, Harshman rebounded to score 10 points (4-of-7) and grab four boards.

Bingley also stuffed the stat-sheet in the game. The senior accounted for seven points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

Statistically, DC had the edge in the contest, outperforming the Bishops in field-goal and three-point percentage, as well as on the glass. But for the third-straight game, turnovers have been a big issue for the Jackets, as they committed 24 to OWU's 15.

Defiance will return to action next weekend when it goes up against St. Mary's on the road. The contest is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 30.