Women's Basketball topped by Terriers

HIRAM, Ohio – The Defiance College women's basketball team tipped off a busy week of nonconference action on Monday night. The Yellow Jackets traveled to Hiram College, where the Terriers prevailed 77-62

Despite the defeat, Head Coach Allan King Jr. noted, "I felt like we competed for the most part. The biggest thing was that we just made a few too many mistakes."

A quick start for DC saw a Kalyn Pickens (Ft. Wayne, Ind./R. Nelson Snider) layup followed by a jumper from Danielle Carruthers (New London/New London) open the scoring before Hiram got on the board. Down the stretch, the Terriers were able to take the lead midway through the quarter and end the first period with a 25-18 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets were able to briefly hack into the home side's lead before Hiram took a 10 point lead into the halftime break.

Defiance outscored the hosts in the final quarter of action behind eight points from Taylor Day (West Mansfield/North Union), part of her 19 total points on the night. Ultimately, the Yellow Jackets were unable to close the gap the Terriers had created.

Offensively, Day's 19 points led the way for the Yellow Jackets. The contest marks the third time so far this season that the sophomore has broken into double digits. Each of Defiance's starters found their way to scoring with Josi Wolf (LaRue/Elgin Local) and Nysha Speed (Sterling Heights, Mich./L'Anse Creuse North) following Day with eight and seven points, respectively.

As a team, DC shot 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the floor as compared to Hiram's 54.4 percent. The Yellow Jackets did find their way to the charity stripe throughout the contest. DC finished 10-16 (62.5 percent) from the line.

Defensive struggles were a trend for the Purple and Gold in the defeat. "We out-rebounded them, but again, we have to make some stops and finish some possessions," added King.

A large part of the defensive frustration, two Terriers were able to combine for 43 points of the host's total. "We couldn't stop [Tashauna] Wright, she had a great game and we have to give her credit. [Haley] Thompson stepped up as well. Our inability to stop those two put us in a position where we really struggled," concluded Coach King.

Defiance has a quick turnaround as the team returns to action Wednesday, December 18, with a trip to Adrian College. Action in Michigan is slated to begin at 7:30 pm.