DC Falls to Earlham (Ind.)

DEFIANCE, OHIO – The Yellow Jackets dropped a tough game at home in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play to Earlham (Ind.) College, 67-55.

With the loss to Earlham (8-14, 5-10 HCAC), the Yellow Jackets (9-13, 8-7) fall to a three-way tie in HCAC play.

The game started off well for DC as sophomore guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) hit a three-point shot on the home team's first possession.  That would be the only time DC led in the game as Earlham scored the next 10 points in a 74 second span.  Sophomore guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) stopped the run with a three-pointer of her own at the 16:25 mark.  Earlham again extended its lead with a 6-1 run with DC's lone point coming from a free-throw by sophomore forward Kelsey Tietje (Dashler/Patrick Henry).  Senior guard/forward Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) got into the three-point shooting show for the Yellow Jackets, hitting a shot from downtown at the 12 minute mark to make it 16-10 in favor of the road squad.  She hit a second shot from beyond the arc less than two minutes later to get the deficit to within five points.  The Yellow Jackets then fell victim to a drought of longer than nine minutes before back-to-back field goals from sophomore forward Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) took DC into the break trailing 29-17.

Zachrich led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with six points while Conine added another four points in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets looked to Tietje and freshman guard Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) for the offense to begin the second half.  The two put up DC's first 15 points in an eight minute span.  Tietje connected on four field goals and a free-throw for nine points while White hit two deep shots for six points.  The home team still trailed 48-32 at that point.  DC got it to within 10 points on buckets from Zachrich, Tietje, and sophomore guard Sharai Allen (Detroit, Mich.), making the score 48-38 with still over 10 minutes remaining.  Earlham extended its lead back out to 15 points before Tietje pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back up and in to make it 53-40.  After another Earlham bucket, Williams cut it back to a ten-point margin with a layup and a shot from downtown, both set up by freshman guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue).  Earlham took a timeout thanks to Williams' five point run.  The defense held the Earlham offense scoreless for over a minute in order to set up Zachrich for an old fashioned three-point play.  The Yellow Jackets then got it to 58-52 thanks to buckets from Tietje and Zachrich.  An Earlham basket stretched the lead back to eight points when Williams found Smay for a huge shot from behind the arch.  The score stood at 60-55 with 90 seconds left, but that would be as close as DC would get.  Earlham made its free-throws down the stretch to take the 67-55 win over the Yellow Jackets.

Tietje put up 16 in both points and rebounds for her 30th career double-double.  She also added two blocks. Zachrich just narrowly missed a double-double of her own, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds.  The senior also added two blocks in the game. Williams added eight points to be next in line in scoring for the Yellow Jackets.  She dished out five assists and two steals.  Schalk led everybody in assists in the game, giving out six helpers.

The Yellow Jackets will welcome in Transylvania (Ky.) University for their last Saturday home game of the regular season.  It is also senior day for the men and women's programs.  The DC women's team will honor its lone senior, Megan Zachrich.  Game time is set to begin at 1 pm with the men's game to follow.