Defiance Falls to Ohio Northern

DEFIANCE, OHIO – The Defiance College women's basketball team fell to No. 15/19 nationally-ranked Ohio Northern University in non-conference action at the Karl H. Weaner Center, 95-51.

Freshman forward Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) led the Yellow Jacket offense with a team-high 11 points (five-of-nine shooting). Junior center Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) added 10 points while shooting three-of-nine (33.3 percent) from the field and went a perfect four-of-four at the free-throw line. Junior guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) rounded out the high-scorers with eight points and she dished out three assists.

Ohio Northern (2-1) took the early advantage right out of the gate going on a 7-0 run. Ervin put Defiance (0-4) on the board off of a helper from Williams and a freebie from a foul at the 7:16 minute mark to make the score 8-3. Alternating baskets helped Defiance creep closer, but the Polar Bear defense held the Jackets to an eight point deficit, 20-12, after the first period.

The second quarter replicated the first, with Ohio Northern starting out on a 7-0 run to take the advantage up to 27-12. Ervin then scored off an assist from sophomore guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) to take the score to 27-14 with just under nine minutes to play in the half. The Yellow Jackets and the Polar Bears traded baskets back-and-forth which included buckets from freshman guard Shelby Stamm (Bellevue) and sophomore guard Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) to make the score 35-22 with 3:05 remaining before halftime. The final points of the half for the Yellow Jackets came off the hands of Tietje in the form of two foul shots and a jumper, to take the Yellow Jackets into the locker room down, 43-26.

Williams got the third quarter started with a layup to cut the deficit to 15 points, 43-28, at the 9:42 minute mark. But that would be as close as the Yellow Jackets got to the Polar Bears the rest of the way, who led as much as 32 points with just under three minutes to play in the quarter. Defiance looked to be making a come-back with back-to-back threes from Williams, but were unable to capitalize, ending the third trailing, 68-43.

In the fourth, the Polar Bears slowly built their lead throughout the beginning minutes of the quarter. The Polar Bear defense held the Yellow Jackets to eight points, while scoring 27 points of their own. Buckets from Ervin, Tietje, junior forward Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) and freshman guard Makayla Cook (Norwalk) gave Defiance its final points of the game, finalizing the 95-51 victory in favor of the visiting team.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Wednesday Dec. 2 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener against Manchester (Ind.) University at the Weaner Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.