Yellow Jackets Outlast the Ravens on the Road

ANDERSON, Ind. – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets come from behind in the second half for the second time this season against Anderson (Ind.) University and pick up the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win.

Four of DC's (8-12, 7-6 HCAC) players get into double figures against the Ravens (1-19, 0-13 HCAC) to win the road contest by six points.

Sophomore guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) hit the first bucket for DC, a three-point shot just 60 seconds into the game.  The Yellow Jackets then went on an extreme scoring drought, being held without a point for the next 12 minutes of play which allowed Anderson to build a 19-3 lead in that time.  Fellow sophomore guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) finally stopped the drought with a three-point shot at the seven minute mark.  Senior guard/forward Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) hit yet another trey for DC the next trip down the court.  That made the score 19-9 with 6:18 left to play in the half.  Three minutes later, Williams connected on another shot from deep to cut the lead to single digits, 21-12.  Freshman guard/forward Brittany Osborne (Union City, Ind./Union City) hit the first jumper for DC inside the three-point arch at the 2:37 mark.  A free-throw each from sophomore forward Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) and freshman guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) plus another trey from Smay ended out the half with DC trailing 29-19.

The duo of Williams and Smay led the Yellow Jackets in the first half with six points each.  Zachrich chipped in another three.

Tietje and Zachrich got it going early in the second half, scoring DC's first 12 points in six minutes.  Tietje put up eight with Zachrich adding the other four.  Williams added a layup after those 12 points from her teammates to make the score 40-33 in favor of Anderson.  Tietje put in a jump shot which was followed up by a Smay three-pointer to cut the lead to four points with just over 12 minutes left in the game.  Osborne added a pair of free-throws before Zachrich took over the scoring role for the Yellow Jackets.  The senior scored the next eight points for DC to tie things up at 48-48.  Anderson scored on a two-point jumper just before freshman guard Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) hit a three-point shot at the 5:03 mark, set up by Williams, to give DC its first lead since the 19:01 mark in the first half.  Williams would sink a pair from the charity stripe 30 seconds later.  Schalk stole the ball on the ensuing Anderson possession which would eventually set up a Smay three to give DC the 56-53 lead, one in which they would not surrender again.  The Yellow Jackets put the game on ice from the line as Tietje, Zachrich, and Smay combined to go 8-of-10 from the free-throw line to squeeze out the 64-58 victory.

Tietje put up her 16th double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Zachirch joined her for the team lead in points with 16 points of her own.  Zachrich also added five assists, five steals, and four rebounds. Smay put in 14 points while going 4-of-5 from three point land.  Williams snuck into double figures as well for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 10 points while dishing out three assists and adding four steals on the defensive side of the ball.

Both DC basketball teams will travel to Cincinnati this weekend for matchups with Mount. St. Joseph University.  The men's game will begin at 1 pm with the women's game to follow.  Tip time for the women should be at approximately 3 pm.