WBB Preview: Yellow Jackets travel to No. 2 Transylvania on Saturday

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Coming off the program's highest-scoring offensive effort since 2016, Defiance College women's basketball is tasked with facing nationally-ranked Transylvania University in Lexington on Saturday. Tipoff at the Clive M. Beck Center is at 2 p.m. with live stats and video available to follow the contest.

The Yellow Jackets knocked off Manchester on Wednesday by a 90-63 tally behind 31 points by senior Taylor Steinbrunner and snapped an eight-game losing streak that ran through the entire month of January. Defiance now stands 7-13 on the year and 4-10 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, three games out of the final spot in the HCAC Tournament.

Transylvania is the No. 2 team in the Division III national rankings with a 20-0 record with 13 victories within the HCAC. The Pioneers downed Franklin 76-46 on Wednesday after forcing the Grizzlies into 27 turnovers while holding them to a 33 percent shooting night. 

DC scores 60.8 points per game and allows 62.1 while Transy's plus-26 point scoring margin is sixth-best in the country. The Pioneers score 72.6 points per contest and give up just 46.5 points per night, the fourth-lowest average at the D-III level. Transylvania shoots a league-best 41 percent from the floor and leads the conference in rebounding at 44.3 per game. Defiance is fourth in the conference in shooting at 38.7 percent while sporting the best team free throw percentage at 71.3 percent.

Transy's Madison Kellione ranks fourth in the conference in scoring at 13.9 points per game and leads the HCAC with 4.6 assists per game. The top rebounder for the Pioneers is Dasia Thornton at 9.1 per game. Thornton, Kennedi Stacy and Laken Bell all average better than 10 points per contest. 

On the Defiance side, Taylor Day ranks 14th in the league with an 11-point per game average and stands 91 points off 1,000 career points. Taylor Steinbrunner's 31-point game lifted her average to 10.1 per night on the year.

The last time the two teams played, Transylvania downed DC 70-40 as the Pioneers held the Yellow Jackets to a season-low in scoring. The Jackets are 9-34 against Transylvania and have not knocked off the Pioneers since 2006, a streak of 30 meetings.

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