Women’s basketball concludes busy week with home victory

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Playing its fourth game in the last eight days, the Defiance College women's basketball team beat the visiting Kalamazoo College Hornets, 66-60, on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference matchup at the Karl H. Weaner Community Center.

"We had two good days of practice the last two days and I felt like we played that way," Defiance head coach Allan King Jr. said. "That's a credit to the kids being tough enough to fight through some of those bumps and bruises you get after a long stretch like this. So, it's nice to come home and it's nice to get a win."

The Yellow Jackets, who never trailed in the contest, led 15-11 after one quarter before stretching the advantage to 32-20. DC was ahead, 34-27, at halftime and took its biggest lead of the afternoon, 54-41, before Kalamazoo scored seven straight points to make it 54-48 by the end of the third period. On top just 62-58 in the final minute, Defiance hit 4-of-6 free throws in the last 33.9 seconds to seal the victory.

From three-point territory, the Yellow Jackets knocked down 11 of 20 (55 percent) while the Hornets were 7 of 18 (38.9). DC outrebounded its guests, 38-30, including 17-9 on the offensive end and dished out a season-high 18 assists on 22 made field goals. The hosts also had a season-low 14 turnovers.

For the winners, freshman Lexie Sparks (Trenton, Ohio/Kings) tossed in a game-best 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench while Taylor Day (West Mansfield/North Union) scored 14 to go along with four assists and a game-high three steals. Freshman Taylor Steinbrunner (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek), in her first collegiate start, added 10 points and was also credited with four assists.

Defiance moves to 3-7 overall in 2019-20 while KC falls to 2-8. The Jackets play again on Saturday, Jan. 4 when hosting a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest with Franklin College at 2 p.m. The men's game between DC and Franklin follows at 4 p.m.