Defiance Women Drops Key HCAC Matchup at Earlham

RICHMOND, IND. – The Defiance College women's basketball team dropped a, 74-49, decision in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Earlham (Ind.) College on Wednesday evening.

Junior Lauren Rogers (Munger, Mich./Bay City Central) led the Yellow Jackets with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while also grabbing four boards. Sophomore Shelby Stamm (Bellevue) added nine points and six rebounds, while junior Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) finished the day with six points and eight boards.

Earlham finished with three scorers in double figures, led by Camryn White with 20 points, followed by Mariah Flynn with 14 and Zoe Curtis with 10.

The Yellow Jackets were outrebounded, 40-33, in the loss while only shooting 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the floor. The Quakers, meanwhile, shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from beyond the arc. Defiance also committed three more turnovers than the Quakers (20-17).

DC started the game on the right foot, as junior Ashley Lee (Millington, Mich.) hit a triple to open the scoring. The Quakers hit a three of their own to tie the game, but Stamm's jumper gave Defiance the lead back. After Earlham hit a pair of free throws, Stamm hit a triple to make it an 8-5 lead, and after an Earlham layup, Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) knocked down a triple to make it, 11-7, with the Yellow Jackets in front. The DC lead grew to seven points, 15-8, with a jumper by Rogers, but the Quakers ended the quarter on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 16-16 after 10 minutes of action.

Stamm and Lee went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to open the second quarter, putting DC in front, 19-16. The Quakers scored six consecutive points to take a 22-19 edge, when Ervin stopped the spurt with a layup to cut the lead to one, 22-21. The Earlham lead quickly grew, as they ended the half on a 17-6 run to take a 39-27 lead into the break.

Earlham came out of the locker room scoring the first five points to grow their lead to 18 points, 45-27. Stamm ended the spurt by knocking down a pair of free throws, but the Quakers knocked down a jumper to put the lead right back at 18. Ervin responded with a bucket to cut it back to 16, but Earlham scored four straight to take their longest lead of the game, 51-31, at the 4:21 mark. Rogers knocked down a triple to cut the deficit to 17, but Earlham ended the third quarter with 11 consecutive points to make it a 62-34 advantage after three stanzas.

After Earlham started the fourth quarter with a layup, freshman Cassidy Yant (Churubusco, Ind.) knocked down a triple to make it a 64-37 game. The teams exchanged baskets and saw Earlham lead, 70-41, midway through the fourth. Defiance rallied for eight straight points to cut the deficit to, 70-49, before Earlham wrapped up the contest with consecutive buckets to give the Quakers a 74-49 victory.

The Yellow Jackets will wrap up the 2017-18 season with a road trip to Hanover, Ind. to take on the Hanover College Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 17. Game time is set for 1 p.m.