WBB Preview: Yellow Jackets travel to Franklin to avenge early-season loss
DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College's women's basketball team looks to bounce back from two narrow losses at home with a visit to Franklin College on Saturday. The opening tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Spurlock Center and live stats and video are each available to follow the contest.
Both teams enter the contest with losing streaks that have endured for most of January. The Yellow Jackets have lost their last five and stand 6-10 overall, 1-7 in the HCAC while Franklin has dropped their last four to slip to 6-9 overall, 3-5 in the conference.
Defiance has been plagued with sluggish finishes. In the team's 10 losses, DC has held a lead or been tied in the fourth quarter in five games with four of those losses happening at home.
A late lead slipped away from the Yellow Jackets during their matchup earlier this season on December 3. DC led 47-43 entering the fourth quarter before the Grizzlies finished the game on a 15-4 run to claim a seven-point win. Franklin sophomore Taylor Cooney recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds while knocking down three 3-pointers in the win. Defiance was paced by 12 points from Lexie Sparks. Franklin now leads the all-time series between the two colleges, 38-25.
Defiance is scoring 59.9 points per game and allowing 61.1 compared to 61.3 points per night for Franklin on 67.0 allowed. Defiance leads the conference in free throw percentage at 71.2 percent while Franklin has the league's largest turnover margin at -2.4 per game.
Neither team has a player averaging double figures. Defiance is led in scoring by senior Taylor Steinbrunner at 9.6 per game, and seven different players have had the top point total in the team's 16 games led by fellow senior Taylor Day on six occasions. Freshman Jordan Coon tops the scoring chart for the Grizzlies with 9.3 points per night. Franklin has some standout post play with junior Sarah O'Day blocking 26 shots, the second-best total in the HCAC, and junior CiCi Bailey standing fourth in rebounding averaging 7.6 rebounds per game.
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