Women's basketball hosts Mount St. Joseph on senior day

DEFIANCE, Ohio- On Saturday evening in the Karl H. Weaner Center, the Yellow Jacket women's basketball team hosted Mount St. Joseph University. The Purple and Gold fell short in the rematch by a score of 75-68. 

In the first half, the sides battled as the Lions were able to knock down the long ball, but the Yellow Jackets made a strong presence in the paint. Headed into the halftime break, Defiance saw only a six-point deficit. 

Coming out in the second half, the Purple and Gold kept that competitive energy and stayed within striking distance of the Lions, battling for every point, but could not overcome Mount St. Joseph. 

Defiance had three Yellow Jackets scoring in double-digits, including Taylor Day, Kalyn Pickens, and Nysha Speed. Day produced 16 points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal. "Tonight was the Taylor we expect to see," said head coach Allan King, Jr., "she did a great job stepping into her role and was efficient in scoring as well as rebounding and did a little bit of everything well."

Pickens recorded her third consecutive double-digit game, tallying 15 points and going 100 percent (3 for 3) from the free-throw line. "She had a great game tonight with 15 points, and on the other end, she defended as tough as she could and made things hard for the other team," said King. 

Off the bench, Speed accounted for 14 points, seven rebounds, and one steal. "Nysha was phenomenal; that is the player we like to see and that we need," said King. "I think the biggest thing I started to she was her confidence grow. She made a tough shot and just continued to excel from there."

Lauren Criblez led Defiance with nine rebounds while adding six points and two assists to the stat sheet. Nicole Sims ran the Yellow Jacket offense dishing out a game-high seven assists while matching that with seven points. 

As a team, Defiance shot 45.8 percent from the field (27 for 59), compared to MSJ, who shot 43.1 percent (25-58). The Lions went 16 for 31(51.5 percent) from the three-point range, while the Yellow Jackets went 2 for 16 from behind the arc. Defiance dominated in the paint, outscoring their opponent 38-16 from inside and outrebounded MSJ 40-27. The Lions went 9 for 12 (75 percent) from the stripe, while the Purple and Gold went 12 for 15 (80 percent). 

"We found a way to cool down some of their shooters tonight," said King, "we still weren't able to cool down Haberthy, but I am proud of our girl's toughness the willingness to come back from a tough loss last night." King added, "They did not hang their heads, we fought the whole game, and that's what we are building here." 

After the game, Defiance honored their one senior for her accomplishments over her Yellow Jacket career. Kalyn's family was able to attend her final home game in person. "Kalyn is such a family person, and being able to have her family here tonight was amazing," said King. "If you have met Kalyn, you know that she is a genuine, kind, caring person, and she treats everybody like family, and for her family to be here and be able to watch was just huge. I could not be happier for her; she played a fantastic game and played her heart out."

As the last regularly scheduled game of the season, Defiance falls to 2-8 overall. The HCAC will be releasing the 2021 Conference Tournament bracket pairings at 8:00 pm tomorrow, February 21st. Keep an eye on the Defiance Athletics website and social media accounts to see when your Yellow Jackets will be back in action.