Defiance Plays Host to Ohio Wesleyan
DEFIANCE, OHIO - The Yellow Jackets welcomed non-conference opponent Ohio Wesleyan on a snowy Tuesday evening to the Karl H. Weaner Center, falling to the Battling Bishops 82-62.
DEFIANCE, OHIO - The Yellow Jackets welcomed non-conference opponent Ohio Wesleyan on a snowy Tuesday evening to the Karl H. Weaner Center, falling to the Battling Bishops 82-62.
Defiance (0-5 overall) was led in the contest by senior Lauren Rogers (Munger, Mich./Bay City Central) with a team-best 15 points, while freshman Taylor Day (West Mansfield/North Union) chipped in 10 points.
In the opening period, the Battling Bishops surged ahead early out scoring DC 10-0 in the first two minutes of action. Defiance would finally get in the scores column as junior Liz Martin (Bellefontaine) hit a three pointer with 5:08 remaining. However, OWU continued to dominate hitting a shot as time expired to capture the 21-11 first period lead.
DC looked to get something going in the second period as sophomore Kayln Pickens (Fort Wayne, Ind./R. Nelson Snyder) hit a layup to cut the deficit to 21-13. The Yellow Jackets continued to swarm as Rogers connected from deep to cut the Bishop advantage to 35-29. The senior deemed clutch as she hit a runner in the lane as time expired to pull Defiance within 37-31 at the break.
DC carried the momentum early into the third period as they used a small run led by Pickens to cut the lead to 37-35. But again, Ohio Wesleyan responded before another deep ball from Rogers gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the contest 41-39. The two teams exchanged points for much of the period before the Bishops stormed ahead following an 11-0 run to push the advantage back to double digits, 53-43. OWU never looked back as they went on to out score DC in the final period of play 25-11 en route to the early season victory.
The Purple and Gold return to action on Saturday, December 1 as they open Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action with Rose-Hulman. Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m.