Yellow Jackets Outlasted in OT

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets fell in the season opener to Alma College, 67-65, in overtime at the Karl H. Weaner Center.  It marked the first win for the Scots after dropping two in a row to the Yellow Jackets.

Alma (1-0) gets revenge on DC (0-1) after dropping two in a row to the Yellow Jackets.  The Scots outlasted the home team in overtime, 67-65.

The season opener started off on the right foot for Defiance (0-1), as sophomore center Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) got a pass in the lane from sophomore guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) and put it in for the Yellow Jackets first points of the season.  Another basket from Tietje a short time later followed by a pair of free throws from fellow sophomore Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) had DC up 6-0 just a little over 60 seconds into the game.  As the offensive ways continued for the Yellow Jackets, the defense showed its muscle as well.  The Yellow Jackets "D" did not give up a made field goal to Alma (1-0) until 6:30 into the first half.  DC led 11-7 at that point.

Senior guard/forward Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) and sophomore forward Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) teamed up to score the next 11 points for the Yellow Jackets.  It started at the 11:18 mark after Zachrich went two-of-two from the free-throw line to give DC a 13-10 lead.  She followed that up a short time later with a jump shot to keep DC in front by three points.  Conine then got into the action as she scored on a layup from Williams.  Conine made the ensuing free-throw as she was fouled on the shot.  After the successful three point play, DC held an 18-12 lead just over midway through the first half.  Zachrich came back and made two more free throws made possible by a Conine steal.  A steal from Williams set up a fastbreak layup from Conine and capped off the Zachrich/Conine run.  The Yellow Jackets held a 10 point lead at 22-12 with 8:24 to go.

Smay hit her first three-pointer of the season on the next possession to give DC its largest lead of the night.  With just under eight minutes left in the first, DC held a commanding 25-12 lead.  After three points from Alma, Williams extended the lead back out to 13 points on a three-point shot to put DC up 28-15 with just over seven minutes left on the clock.  The remaining seven minutes belonged to the Scots, as they closed out the half on a 17-6 run.  Freshman guard Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) converted on three-of-four free throws in that time to contribute to the Yellow Jackets score.  Conine added a free-throw and a jumper with 90 seconds left to give DC its 34 first half points, but Alma had cut the lead to just two, 34-32.

Zachrich and Conine led the way for the Yellow Jackets in the first half, scoring eight points apiece.  Williams made two three-pointers to add six points in the first half.

The second half started a lot like the first half, as Tietje again got a pass in the lane from Williams to score on DC's first possession.  Tietje then pulled down a defensive rebound, followed by an offensive rebound on the other side.  As she went up for a shot she was fouled by an Alma defender.  Tietje went perfect from the line that trip and extended the Yellow Jackets lead to six.  Zachrich made a move through the lane and made the lay-in a short time later to push DC's lead out to eight as the Yellow Jackets started the second half on a 6-0 run to make the score 40-32 with 18 minutes left to play in regulation.

Alma battled back the next four minutes, tying up the game at 40-40 as DC's offense went cold.  Tietje put a stop to the run at the 13:11 mark on a dish from Smay.  The next trip down the court, Alma found a three-point field goal to take the lead for the first time in the game.  The Scots led 43-42 with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation.

Conine split a pair of free-throws for DC to tie things back up at 43-43 and freshman Brittany Osborne (Union City, Ind./Union City) gave DC the lead back on her first collegiate points at the 11:48 mark.  Under 60 seconds later, Osborne hit another jumper from Conine to give the Yellow Jackets a 47-43 lead with 11 minutes to play in the second half.  After an Alma basket to make it, 47-46, the two teams went into a defensive battle.  For the next three minutes, each team was held scoreless until Smay made a tough layup to give the Yellow Jackets a 49-46 lead with 7:24 left to play.  Smay found another lay-in one minute later to again to push DC's lead to three.

A short time later, a three from Alma with five minutes remaining in the second half gave the Scots the lead again at 53-51.  The two teams again could not find any points until Tietje stepped to the line for two with 3:30 left to play.  She calmly sank both to tie things up at 53-53.  Later in the period, Zachrich converted one-of-two free-throws to tie things up at 57-57.  That is where the second half would end as the two teams needed extra time to settle this one.

Alma scored the first four points of OT before Tietje put in a jumper from Zachrich to cut the lead to two.  Tietje made two more free-throws to tie things up at 61-61 with 2:37 left in overtime.  A short five seconds later, the Scots made a jumper to go ahead by two.  Freshman guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) then made one-of-two freebies 10 seconds later to cut Alma's lead to one point.  The Scots tried to push the lead to three with 27 seconds left, but Tietje had other plans as she came up with her fourth block of the game.  DC quickly headed back the other way as Williams found Smay in the corner for a huge three with 14 seconds left to put the Yellow Jackets up two with 14 seconds left to go.  But the Scots answered with a three of their own 10 seconds later to regain the lead at 66-65.  A late free-throw from Alma would mark the final of 67-65 in favor of the visiting Scots.

Tietje led the way for the Yellow Jackets in the season opener.  The sophomore put together her 13th career double-double with 19 points to go along with 12 boards.  She also had four blocks. Smay scored 12 points for DC and added three steals on the defensive side of the ball.  Zachrich also got into double figures for the Yellow Jackets with 11 points in addition to three steals and three assists.  Conine added nine points and two steals.  Williams dished out a game-high six assists and also chipped in six points and two steals.

DC will look to turn things around against Albion (Mich) College Tuesday, Nov. 18 with a 5 p.m. tip-off time.