Defiance women’s basketball downed on the road at Hanover

HANOVER, Ind. — The Defiance Yellow Jackets were defeated, 68-54, by the Hanover Panthers in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Association women's basketball at Collier Arena on Saturday. 

The Yellow Jackets (1-5, 0-3 HCAC) were outscored 13-5 in the first quarter after shooting 2-for-14 while the Panthers (6-2, 3-0 HCAC) went on to build a 29-19 lead at the half. Hanover kept humming early in the second half and was up 36-22, the game's largest lead at the time, before Defiance started hitting shots from long range to make up lost ground.

During the third quarter, all 15 Defiance points were scored on shots from long range. Kalista Friday nailed a pair during that stretch joined by Cait Good and Taylor Steinbrunner during a two-minute stretch in the middle of the period to trim the Panther lead down to five points. Lexie Sparks added another with over two minutes left in the quarter, but Hanover mounted another rally to match that 14-point lead by the end of the quarter.

Defiance got more shots to drop in the fourth and played Hanover to a 20-20 tie over the last 10 minutes. Layups by Lauren Criblez and Steinbrunner sandwiched around a made 3-pointer by Sparks brought Defiance back to within single digits. Ali Mowen provided a two-way impact to bring the Hanover lead back down to six points with a 3-pointer of her own, then she came up with a steal that led to a Sparks fastbreak layup to make the tally 52-46 in favor of Hanover.

That was as close as DC could make the contest as Hanover opened things up again down the stretch. The largest lead of the game was surpassed in the final half minute when an open 3-ball and two made free throws opened up the score to 68-51. Defiance's Good hit an open triple from atop the arc with 15 seconds left to bring the final spread down to 14.

Defiance shot 34 percent from the field for the game and knocked down 11 3-pointers, nine during the second half, compared to five by the Panthers. Hanover scored 19 points at the charity stripe as Defiance took just five attempts in the contest. Hanover out-rebounded DC, 46-28, while turnovers were even at 19 apiece.

Good paced the Yellow Jackets with 13 points in the game with a trio of trifectas. Sparks scored 10 and Friday knocked down three 3-pointers to account for her nine points. Point guard Nicole Sims was DC's top rebounder with seven and also dished out a team-best four assists.

The Yellow Jackets' three-game road trip continues on Tuesday at Adrian for a 7 p.m. tipoff against the Bulldogs.

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