Defiance's Depth is the Difference in First HCAC Victory

ANDERSON, Ind. – The Lady Jackets got a much-needed win in their first conference match of the season on Wednesday night, outscoring the Ravens 48-34 in the second half on the way to a 75-63 victory. Senior guard, Molly Bateman, led the charge with a career-high 17 points, including 12 in the second half.

Defiance trailed by as much as seven points in a back-and-forth opening half that saw seven lead changes. The Jackets posted a 19-0 advantage on points off the bench in the period, and turned a seven-point deficit at the 7:06 mark into a one-point lead with under a minute remaining. Anderson posted the last three points of the period to put Defiance down by two at the break, but it was not nearly enough against a DC squad that has been strong in the second half all season.

After Kim Comden's jumper knotted the game at 29-29 in the opening seconds of the second half, the Jackets never trailed, and built their lead to as much as 15 behind 54.8 percent shooting in the period, including eight-of-16 from long range. The Jackets showed some toughness near the basket as well, outscoring the Ravens on points in the paint in the second half, while posting their first positive rebounding margin (+4) of the season. DC's reserves showed up big in the second half as well, outscoring Anderson's bench 23-5 in the period to finish with a 44-5 advantage for the game.

Bateman's 17 points came in just 18 minutes of action, with five of her six field goals coming from long range. Tasha Stucke led the team with 32 minutes played, and posted a season-high 12 points to go along three assists and three steals.

Anderson simply could not keep up with Defiance's depth. The Jackets had 15 players record at least six minutes in the contest, while the Ravens had just six players reach that mark.

Defiance will get a chance to hand Rose-Hulman its first conference loss of the season on Saturday, December 4, when it heads to Terre Haute, Ind. for a match with the Engineers (2-2, 1-0 HCAC). The game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.