Second Half Woes Sink Defiance College in Season Opener

ANGOLA, IND. - Second half woes sink Defiance College women's basketball in its season opener at Trine University Wednesday evening, 94-78.

The Purple and Gold saw four players finish in double figures paced by junior Ashley Lee (Millington, Mich.) and junior Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) with a a team-high 19 points. Lee finished the contest shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Sophomore Shelby Stamm (Bellevue) chipped in 18 points, while junior Lauren Rogers (Munger, Mich./Bay City Central) added 12 for DC.

As a team, Defiance shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the floor and connected on 10-of-18 from three-point, while dishing out a game-high 18 assists. 

The Yellow Jackets found themselves trailing early in in the first quarter before a jumper from Lee with 5:59 remaining knotted the contest at 7-7. The two teams continued to exchange points for much of the quarter before a three-pointer by Stamm and a layup from Lee gave DC its first lead of the night, 20-17. DC closed out the opening period on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 27-21.

Defiance remained hot to open the second quarter as senior Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) connected with Rogers to push the lead, 29-21. However, the Thunder came storming back using a 6-0 run to pull within two, 29-27 with 5:42 remaining. Rogers came through in the clutch as she buried a three to halt the Trine run. The Purple and Gold looked to extend its lead once more as Lee found her stroke from behind the arc with 4:09 to go till halftime, 35-31. The Thunder continued to battle late in the period using back-to-back jumpers in the final seconds to regain the lead, 47-43.

The second half opened with a back and forth battle before a three pointer with 4:18 remaining gave the Thunder its largest lead of the contest, 63-55. Defiance looked to chip at the lead as scores from Lee and Ervin cut the deficit to 63-59. Trine responded with another run closing out the third quarter going on a 6-0 spurt to push the advantage to 69-61.

The Trine run continued into much of the fourth quarter before a DC layup with 6:40 remaining stopped the charging Thunder. Defiance tried to make a run late in the period but the Trine offense continued to click en route to the win, 94-78.

Trine was led in the contest by Brandi Dawson with a game-high 29 points and eight rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday, November 18 as they travel to Albion, Mich. Tip off is set for 2:00 p.m.