Yellow Jackets Lose Heartbreaker

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets dropped a tightly contested game to Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology on the road in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

DC (4-9, 3-3 HCAC) fell to Rose (8-5, 4-2 HCAC) by a score of 51-50.  The game was close almost the whole way, as the second half saw neither team lead by more than eight points.  With the loss, the Yellow Jackets drop to a tie for sixth place in the HCAC.

The offense started off slow for both teams.  DC's first basket didn't come until more than three minutes into the game.  Sophomore guard Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) scored on a jumper in the paint at the 16:43 mark.  She hit another jumper two minutes later to make the score 6-4 in favor of the home team.  After a layup by sophomore forward Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa), Tietje put in another four points to make the score 13-10, still in favor of Rose.  Senior guard/forward Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) put in a layup at the 7:57 mark, but Rose then went on a 9-1 run over the next five minutes to take an 11-point lead.  Zachrich and freshman guard/forward Brittany Osborne (Union City, Ind./Union City) then scored a combined six points in a 90-second span to cut the lead to seven.  The score stood at 26-19 at intermission.

Tietje led the way in scoring in the first 20 minutes with eight points.  Osborne and Zachrich each added four points and Conine chipped in with three.

The second half started with Tietje hitting a shot in the lane and then hit another shot a couple trips later to cut Rose's lead to three points.  Zachrich made a layup the next trip to cut the lead to one.  After a couple of baskets by Rose, sophomore guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) hit back-to-back three pointers to give DC its first lead at 31-30 with just under 15 minutes remaining.  The home team then went on a nine-point run when sophomore guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) stopped the bleeding with a three-point shot.  After Osborne hit a jumper that was set up by Zachrich, Smay connected on another shot from downtown to cut Rose's lead to 41-39.  DC shot well from the free-throw line to keep pace with Rose late in the game.  Williams connected on a fast break lay-in from a pass by freshman guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) to make the score 47-46 with 2:12 left to play, in favor of Rose.  Zachrich made a layup with 75 seconds left to keep pace with the home team.  Schalk got fouled and converted on two free-throws with under a minute left to give DC a 50-49 lead.  Rose was able to find two more points late and took the HCAC contest by a score of 51-50.

Tietje put together her tenth double-double of the season, putting up 15 points and 11 rebounds.  She also added four blocks to her day.  Zachrich also got into double figures as well, scoring 10 points on the afternoon.  She also led the Yellow Jackets in assists with five.  Williams scored eight points in the game and Schalk led DC in steals with two.

The Yellow Jackets will head to HCAC rival Bluffton on Wednesday, Jan. 14 for a doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket men's team.  The women will tipoff at 6 pm with the men's game to follow.