Women's Basketball's conference win streak stymied by Panthers

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College women's basketball team returned to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action Saturday afternoon as they hosted the Hanover Panthers. After Defiance started the HCAC season 2-0, the visitors proved strong all-around as the Yellow Jackets fell 75-45.

"I'll give them all the credit, they took us out of what we wanted to do. Hanover is a good pressing team, and today, we were poor against the press," said Head Coach Allan King, Jr.

Despite opening with a Taylor Day (West Mansfield/North Union) jump shot just 16 seconds into the contest, the Panthers offense pushed their way to a 24-6 lead after the first quarter and a 41-18 lead as the sides headed into halftime.

The most resilient period of the day for the Yellow Jackets came in the final quarter as DC posted 17 points. Emily Blanton (Plymouth/Plymouth) led the Purple and Gold with six points off the bench in the concluding period of action, while five other Yellow Jackets found the scoresheet as well.

Day headed the DC offense with nine points in the affair. The sophomore also reeled in five rebounds and collected two assists across her 25 minutes.

Defensively, Josi Wolf (LaRue/Elgin Local) grabbed a team-high six boards while Danielle Carruthers (New London/New London) and Briana Townley (Paulding/Paulding) finished with two blocks apiece.

As a team, DC shot 32.7 percent (17-52) from the field while being held to just 3-16 from beyond the arc by the stingy Panther defense. The squads fell even with 26 points off the bench as a plethora of Yellow Jackets found their way into the action.

"Next, we have to get ourselves right and focused," said King. "We talk about not allowing a turnover on one possession to become a bad possession the next time, and it has to be the same with games. We have to come out stronger next time," concluded the second-year head coach.

A busy week ahead will see the Yellow Jackets return to nonconference action on Monday, December 16, as they travel to Hiram for a 7:00 pm tip.