WBB Preview: Women’s basketball hosts Hanover on Saturday

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DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College's women's basketball team wraps up a tough month of January with one of the HCAC's top programs visiting the Weaner Center on Saturday. Tipoff against the Hanover Panthers is set for noon with the men's matchup to follow at 2 p.m.

The Yellow Jackets have lost seven straight games to start the 2023 calendar year and stand 6-12 on the campaign. Four of DC's seven consecutive defeats have been by single digits. The Panthers are 13-5 after going 6-1 in January with their lone loss on the road at No. 2 Transylvania. Hanover trails only Transylvania in the HCAC standings with a 10-1 mark while Defiance is seated ninth with a 3-9 conference record due to the two cancelations by Rose-Hulman.

Last time out, Defiance dropped a road game on Tuesday at Mount St. Joseph by a 72-64 score. Hanover was off earlier in the week due to a Rose-Hulman date, but they knocked off Bluffton last Saturday 60-55. Hanover won the contest between the two schools on December 10, 68-54, to tie the all-time series at 23 wins apiece. 

The Panthers have one of the top defenses in the conference, allowing 59.8 points per game while scoring 63.2. They are also just one of three HCAC teams with a positive rebounding margin at a plus-3.5 average. DC is eighth in offensive output at 59.5 points per contest with 61.8 allowed per game. Both squads shoot 37 percent while Hanover's 54 made 3s are the fewest in the conference.

Hanover's sophomore forward Grace Bezold has the second-best individual scoring average in the conference with 15.9 points per game while she stands fourth in the league with 7.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore teammate Katherine Benter is also a top-10 rebounder in the HCAC averaging 6.9 boards per game, ranked seventh in the conference. Junior guard Taylor Heath tops the HCAC leaderboard in assists with 4.4 per game.

Defiance has one player averaging double figures with Taylor Day's team-best 10.6 points per game. She is also the leading rebounder at 5.6 per contest. The senior has posted 880 career points over her collegiate career. Day has the potential to become the 21st member of DC's 1,000-point club if she averages 17 points over DC's last seven games.

-JACKETS-