Women's basketball visits Bluffton, seeks sixth straight win

DEFIANCE, Ohio - A Wednesday night visit to rival Bluffton gives the Defiance College women's basketball team the opportunity to post the program's longest winning streak in a decade. 

The Yellow Jackets enter the contest with a 6-5 record after a 1-5 start to the year and have not dropped a contest since their December 10 trip to Hanover. The current run by the Rod Hersha-led group matches a five-game run during the 2016-17 season and is one win shy of matching a six-game winning streak in 2012-13.

Most recently, Defiance is coming off a 55-39 home victory over Mount St. Joseph on New Year's Eve. That 55-point effort broke a four-game run of scoring 60-plus but the Yellow Jackets are still scoring at a 68.6-point pace over their last five contests. DC has bettered the team's shooting percentage by nearly four points to 38.2 percent, third-highest in the conference, thanks to a 42.4 percent (128-for-302) clip from the floor over the last five games. Defiance also remains the top free throw shooting team in the HCAC at 74.7 percent as a team.

Bluffton stands 7-4 prior to Wednesday matchup and are tied with DC at 1-3 in HCAC competition. The Beavers have mutual wins over Mount St. Joseph, Adrian and Wooster. Bluffton started 4-0 but have lost 4 of their last 7. As a team, Bluffton is scoring 62.5 points per game, tied with DC for fourth-best in the HCAC, and shoots 35 percent from the field. Bluffton's 47 rebounds per game lead all HCAC teams.

Senior forward Morgan Smith is the lone Beaver averaging double figures in scoring at 11.4 points per game and adds 9.7 rebounds per contest, the highest average among all HCAC players. Senior Sammy Shardo leads the squad with 16 3-pointers and scores 7.6 points per night while second-leading scorer sophomore Kayla Prigge has hit 14 shots from outside the arc to help her 9.4-point scoring average.

DC dropped both 2021-22 contests to Bluffton and has lost five straight head-to-heads but leads the all-time series, 74-28.

Tipoff at Bluffton's Sommer Center is slated for 6 p.m. and will be followed by the men's game at 8 p.m. Live video and live stats are available for the event by clicking here.

-JACKETS-