WBB Preview: Yellow Jackets set up for battle with Earlham on Wednesday
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DEFIANCE, Ohio – Looking to snap a season-long, four-game losing streak, the Defiance College women's basketball team entertains Earlham for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Weaner Community Center on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on the DC campus.
In their last game, Defiance was outlasted by Miami-Hamilton, 62-59, in a non-conference meeting at home despite holding a lead entering the fourth quarter while missing some critical free throws down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets now stand 6-9 overall with a 1-6 mark in the conference.
Earlham has a 1-13 mark coming into play with their lone victory coming against Kenyon in late November. Kenyon defeated DC by one point on the road to open the season. The two squads also shared non-conference matchups against Miami-Hamilton, who beat the Quakers by 21 points on their own floor, and Adrian, a team Defiance bettered by eight in December while beating Earlham by seven. The Quakers are 0-7 in the HCAC, losing most recently by 12 points at home to Mount St. Joseph.
Defiance scores 60.5 points per game compared to 53.6 by Earlham. DC is in the upper half of the conference in terms of defensive scoring at 61.5 points allowed per contest. Earlham is last in shooting percentage at just below 30 percent on the season, which includes a 21 percent mark from long range and 60.8 percent at the free throw line. While the Yellow Jackets are tied for third in the league in shooting percentage at 37.7 percent, DC tops the HCAC in free throw percentage at 71.4 percent. Turnovers will be another area of emphasis in this matchup with Defiance ranking fourth in the conference by averaging almost three fewer turnovers than forced while the Quakers are third at plus-2.93 turnovers per game.
Most of Earlham's scoring is produced by double-digit sophomore scorers Amari Bradford (12.1 points per game), Alexis Gibson (11.5) and Jay Bright (10.6). Bradford ranks 10th in the HCAC in scoring average while Gibson checks in ninth in rebounding at a team-best 6.6 per game. Gibson also accounts for the team's top 3-point threat with 17 makes on the year.
Defiance is led by the quartet of Taylor Steinbrunner, Taylor Day, Lexie Sparks and Kalista Friday accounting for over half of the team's scoring production. Day is the team's top rebounder at 5.5 per game.
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