CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Defiance College women’s basketball team used big games from Kim Comden and Erica King to pick up a road win against Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Mount St. Joseph, 69-56. The win keeps Defiance in fourth place in the conference.

Defiance opened the contest with the first five points. Kim Bingley, making her first start of the season, sank a triple to begin the game and Hannah Harshman added the other basket. Mount St. Joseph fought back and used a quick 7-0 spurt starting at the 11:21 mark to grab a 19-13 lead.

The Purple and Gold answered with a 6-0 surge of their own to bring the scores level, 19-19. Harshman started the run with a jumper with 8:12 left in the half, and Comden and Brooke Zachrich hit layups during the push. The final minutes of the opening half were a near dead-lock, as the two teams went into halftime with Mount St. Joseph leading, 25-24.

Mount seized the early momentum of the second half by building a five-point lead, 29-24, a minute into the second frame. Bingley hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two points, 29-27, but the Lions went back up by five points, 34-29, with 15:55 remaining in the game. The lead quickly evaporated because of six straight points by Comden. Comden hit four free throws and then a jumper to give Defiance a 35-34 edge with 13:16 on the clock.

The Lions momentarily regained the lead, 36-35, but a three-pointer by Jesse Arnold gave Defiance a two-point lead. The two teams tied three times and swapped leads twice until the 4:44 mark, when a Harshman jumper gave DC the lead for good. A late 10-2 run to end the game by Defiance pushed the Yellow Jackets a 69-56 victory.

Comden led all scorers with 20 points on six-of-12 shooting and a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line. She also added seven rebounds and two assists. Erica King gave the Yellow Jackets a boost off of the bench with 18 points. Harshman ended the game with 14 points and six rebounds, while Bingley finished with a season-best 10 points and eight rebounds.

Mount St. Joseph was led by 12 points from Katie Jo Collins.

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improve to 6-9 overall and 4-4 in the HCAC. Mount St. Joseph falls to 2-13 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

Defiance will return to action on Wednesday, January 18 when it hits the road to take on league opponent Earlham. Tip-off will be at 7:30 pm.

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