Yellow Jackets Fall to .500 in HCAC Play

DEFIANCE, OHIO – The first game in 2015 was a tough one for the Yellow Jackets, as they fell to the Panthers, 95-57, in Heartland College Athletic Conference action at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

Defiance (3-8, 2-2 HCAC) struggled to find its range against Hanover (7-4, 3-1 HCAC) and dropped its second HCAC game of the season.

Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) scored the first points of the game for DC, followed shortly by a Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) three-point shot to make the score 11-5 just five minutes into the contest in favor of the visiting Panthers.  Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) drilled a jumper a couple of minutes later to keep the score close at 13-7.  Hanover then went on a run to extend its lead to 19 points when Tietje found a jumper in the paint to stop the run and was fouled on the play.  She made the ensuing free-throw to make the score 26-10 with nine minutes left in the first half.  The Panthers stretched the lead out to 30 points in the next four minutes when the Yellow Jackets put a run together of their own.  Sharai Allen (Detroit, Mich./Eastern Michigan University) started the run off with a  jump shot at the 3:50 mark.  Tietje then had a put-back after pulling down a big offensive board.  Allen then found Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) with a nice dish for an easy two point bucket.  Tietje capped off the run with a jump shot to make the score 40-18 with 90 seconds left in the half.  Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) made a pair of free-throws to make the score 45-20 at half in favor of the away team.

Tietje led the way in the first half with nine points and six rebounds.  Schalk added three points in the first half and Allen gave out two assists in the first twenty minutes to lead DC in that category.

Tietje started the second half with a vengeance, scoring the first eight points for the Yellow Jackets, keeping the deficit at 25 with 17:15 to play.  Allen, Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) and Brittany Osborne (Union City, Ind./Union City) all converted on field goal attempts for DC within two minutes of each other to keep the scoring alive for the Yellow Jackets.  Tietje and Williams teamed up for the next 14 points for DC in a seven minute span.  The pair knocked down five field goals and three free-throws for the home squad.  Osborne, Allen, and Conine finished out the scoring for DC, combining for eight points in the final three minutes.  That marked the final score of 95-47.

Tietje led the way with her eighth double-double of the season, finishing with a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds.  Allen and Williams added eight points and seven points, respectively.  Conine pulled down six rebounds to be second on the team in that category and Osborne added five more boards for the Yellow Jackets.  Williams, Schalk, Allen, and Osborne all added two assists for DC.

The Yellow Jackets will go back to action on Wednesday (Jan. 7) when they host HCAC foe Anderson (Ind.) University.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.