Despite strong first half, IU East bests Defiance 78-52

RICHMOND, Ind. - On Lingle Court Tuesday, the Defiance College Yellow Jackets' first-half momentum was not enough to propel them over the Indiana East Red Wolves, ultimately falling 78-52. 

Defiance and Indiana East went back-to-back scoring in each of its first two possessions before the Red Wolves took off on an 11-point run. JaKiah Mitchell and Jourdyn Wynn put in consecutive layups to make it 15-8. For the remainder of the first quarter, Indiana East outscored Defiance 9-4, but didn't stay too far behind. 

The second quarter became a gritty battle as the Yellow Jackets put up 22 points compared to 19 from the Red Wolves. Twelve of DC's points were due to Chandler Duncan, who has led the team in scoring through the past two games — tonight making it three games. Mitchell lended a hand in the second with five points of her own. Defiance outrebounded Indiana East and led in bench points by the time the contest reached the halfway buzzer, Yellow Jackets trailing by nine — their slimmest halftime deficit. 

Mitchell continued her strongest scoring game of the season with the first bucket of the third quarter. An Ali Mowen layup, her first points of the contest, brought Defiance within six at the 4:34 mark of the third. In the final few minutes of the quarter, two clutch threes from the Red Wolves kept the Yellow Jackets 10-points out of reach heading into the final 10-minute period. 

Keeping up with its momentum from outside the arc, another Indiana East 3-pointer put the Red Wolves on top 59-46. At 9:06, Taylor Haynes cut into the home team's lead by two just before Indiana East went on a 5-point, 5-minute run. In the final four minutes of the contest, the Red Wolves ran away with the leading going 2-of-5 in field goals and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line compared to Defiance's 1-of-7 in field goals and 0-of-4 shooting at the line. 

THE TURNING POINT

Defiance had a strong first half to stay within ten by the time the break came. The Yellow Jackets notched a new first-half scoring high with 34 points, including a big 12 points from Chandler Duncan. DC was down by just nine points to begin the third quarter, but its scoring began to slow in the second half as the Red Wolves ran away with the lead. 

A CLOSER LOOK

• Chandler Duncan led the Yellow Jackets in scoring for a third-straight game, this time with 19

• JaKiah Mitchell had her highest-scoring game with nine points

• Defiance had more second-chance opportunities grabbing 16 offensive boards to the Red Wolves' 15

• Na'lani Williams notched a new-rebounding high with 13

• Ali Mowen and Duncan each had a trio of assists

UP NEXT

The Yellow Jackets will return to the court after Thanksgiving on Saturday and welcome Midway to the Karl H. Weaner Center. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

-JACKETS-