Defiance Rolls to Blowout Victory

OLIVET, MICH. -- The Defiance College women's basketball team eased their way to a 93-57 victory against Olivet (Mich.) College in a non-conference matchup in Olivet, Mich.

Defiance (2-2) had four scorers in double figures, led by senior Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry), who scored 20 points on nine-of-16 shooting (56.3 percent) while also grabbing 11 rebounds. It was Tietje's fourth performance of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in Defiance's four contests this season.

The Yellow Jackets also got a season-high 19-point, eight-rebound game from sophomore Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) off the bench in the victory. Junior guard Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) added 17 points and four rebounds, while senior Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) added a season-best 14 points on six-of-eight shooting (75.0 percent) from the floor. She also grabbed five boards, dished out two assists and swiped two steals. Senior point guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) also led the Yellow Jackets with a career-high eight assists to go along with scoring four points.

The Yellow Jackets finished the contest shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (38-of-76), but only 30.8 percent (eight-of-26) from deep, while the Comets (1-4) shot just 32.4 percent (22-of-68) from the floor and 20.8 percent (five-of-24) from beyond the arc. Defiance also finished the game with a 38-31 rebounding edge.

Defiance opened the contest with a 13-2 advantage, as Conine scored eight of the team's first 13 points of the contest. The Comets scored a quick five points to get the game to within six, but Ervin then added five consecutive markers to get the lead back out to 18-7. Olivet ended the opening period by outscoring DC, 7-4, to cut the deficit to 22-14 after one quarter of play.

DC opened quarter number two by scoring 12 of the first 14 points, including two threes from White to quickly take a 34-16 lead at the 7:07 mark. After an Olivet bucket, Tietje scored five straight, followed by a jumper by junior Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) that gave Defiance a 41-18 lead. In a repeat of the first quarter, Olivet ended the period with a spurt to narrow the gap to 45-26 at the break.

Defiance continued to dominate into the third quarter, as they started the third on a 19-4 run to get the lead out to 35 points at 65-30 with 4:04 to play in the third. The teams exchanged buckets for the last four minutes of the quarter to make the score, 72-39, to end the stanza.

After the teams exchanged buckets to begin the fourth quarter, Defiance added ten of the next 12 points that resulted in a game-high 40-point lead at 84-44 with 5:37 to play. Olivet held DC to nine points the remainder of the quarter, but the Yellow already had the game well in hand and went on to the 93-57 victory.

Defiance will begin Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 3 as Franklin (Ind.) College comes to the Karl H. Weaner Center. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team. The women's game is set to tip at 2 p.m. with the men's game against the Grizzlies to follow at 4 p.m.