WBB Preview: Yellow Jackets hit the road one last time in 2022-23

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College travels to Earlham on Tuesday night for a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at Druley Performance Gym in Richmond, Ind. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with live stats and video available from Earlham.

Defiance looks to snap a three-game slide since an impressive road win to start the final month of the campaign and sits 6-17 overall. Earlham has not won a game since they defeated the Yellow Jackets at the Weaner Center on January 18 by a 56-50 score. A three-point win over Kenyon College is Earlham's only other win on a 2-19 season. 

The Yellow Jackets have not played in six days since suffering a seven-point home loss to Anderson, 88-81. Despite 35 points by Lexi Dellinger, Defiance held the contest close despite the Ravens holding the lead for over 39 minutes.

DC will be charged with trying to defend another dynamic scorer in Jay Bright, who scored 32 points during a loss at Mount St. Joseph on Saturday and was named HCAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week. Bright was held to 11 in the Quakers' last game against the Yellow Jackets. Bright leads Earlham in scoring at 12.8 per game while supported by Amari Bradford at 11.5 per contest with a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Alexis Gibson is Earlham's only shooter with more than 20 3-point makes (23) and scores 10.3 per night.

Taylor Day leads the DC charge with 11 points per contest and a team-best 5.5 rebounds. Day enters Tuesday's game 59 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Taylor Steinbrunner follows closely at 9.8 per game and a team-leading 23 triples.

The tale of tapes shows Defiance average six points more than the Quakers, 60.3 points per game compared to 54.4, while Earlham surrenders the second-most points per game in the HCAC at 69.8. Earlham also shoots a league-low 30.5 percent from the field with just 71 total made 3-pointers. Defiance has made 113 triples and hits 38 percent from the field, the fourth-best shooting percentage in the conference.

Defiance's January loss to Earlham was just the seventh all-time since the two institutions started to compete against each other in 1991. The Yellow Jackets lead the series with 21 victories to seven losses.

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