DC Wins a Thriller at Home

DEFIANCE, OHIO – After dropping two straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference games on the road, Defiance College came home to pick up a huge win over HCAC foe Franklin (Ind.) College topping the Grizzlies, 55-52.

DC (5-10, 4-4 HCAC) shot over 50 percent from the field against Franklin (8-6, 6-2 HCAC) to keep pace in the heated HCAC race.

The Yellow Jackets found scoring from several different players in the early going.  Four DC players scored in the first seven minutes to give DC the early 12-4 lead.  Senior guard/forward Megan Zachrich (Napoleon) started things off with a three-point shot.  Sophomore forward Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) followed that up with a jumper in the paint.  Sophomore guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) then found a second trey for the Yellow Jackets.  Tietje converted on another jump shot in the lane before freshman guard/forward Brittany Osborne (Union City, Ind./Union City) made back-to-back layups to give DC an eight point lead.  Mekai White (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) then caught fire from downtown, connecting on three straight shots from behind the arc.  Freshman guard Sharai Allen (Detroit, Mich.) made a jumper in the midst of White's three-point barage and the Yellow Jackets held their largest lead of the afternoon, 25-13.  DC slowed down a little the next nine minutes.  Tietje and sophomore guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) both converted on jumpers and freshman guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) added a free-throw for the final five points for the home team.  Franklin scored 17 points in those same nine minutes, tying the score at 30-30 at the half.

White led the way for DC with nine points in the first half.  Tietje added six points and Osborne chipped in another four points.  Eight Yellow Jackets scored in the first 20 minutes.

Williams started off the second half in the scoring column for the Yellow Jackets.  She got behind the defense off of a Zachrich steal and assist and converted on the fast break lay-in as DC led 32-30 at the 18:36 mark.  The Yellow Jackets offense then went cold, not being able to find a point for the next four minutes.  That is when Zachrich took over the game.  The senior put in three consecutive layups off tough drives to push DC's lead out to 38-34.  Zachrich also came up with a huge block on the wing as the Grizzlies were working on a possession to cut into the Defiance lead.  Schalk dished out two pretty passes to Tietje and Osborne on the two ensuing possessions to give DC the 42-36 lead with 9:38 remaining.  Franklin battled back to get the game within one point when the Yellow Jackets put together a huge 8-0 run.  Zachrich started the run with another tough make around the basket.  Tietje then put in a shot from the paint.  Williams found Osborne on the fast break a short time later to push the lead to seven.  Tietje scored the last bucket of the run in the paint at the 3:22 mark.  DC led 50-41 at that point.  Franklin again battled back, cutting the lead to four before another Tietje basket.  With 90 seconds left, the Grizzlies hit a three-point shot to make it a one possession game.  Thirty seconds later, Schalk found Williams open for a big-time three-point shot to push the lead back out to six points, 55-49.  Franklin found three more points but couldn't get the clock stopped late as DC held on for the 55-52 win.

Tietje put up 14 points and 14 rebounds in the win.  It is Tietje's fifth straight game with a double-double and the longest such streak of her career.  Zachrich made 11 points for the Yellow Jackets.  White made three triples for nine points and Williams and Osborne both added eight points.  Schalk had a nice game of setting up her teammates, dishing out a game-high six assists.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Earlham (Ind.) College on Wednesday, Jan. 21 to complete the first half of the HCAC schedule.  Game time is set to begin at 7:30 pm.