Defiance Wins Third Straight With Win Against Anderson

DEFIANCE, OHIO -- The Defiance College women's basketball team earned a third straight victory, as it knocked off Anderson (Ind.) University, 66-57, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Karl H. Weaner Center. 

Senior Kelsey Tietje (Deshler/Patrick Henry) led the Yellow Jackets with another double-double, scoring 21 points on nine-of-13 shooting (69.2 percent) from the floor, while also grabbing 14 rebounds. Senior guard Ashley Williams (Leipsic/Pandora-Gilboa) added 14 points on four-of-six shooting (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc and also grabbed four rebounds. Fellow senior Keri Conine (Ottawa/Pandora-Gilboa) rounded out the scoring leaders with 12 points in addition to grabbing five boards.

Senior point guard Erica Smay (Defiance/Tinora) padded the stat sheet for the home team by adding seven points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, while junior guard Whitney Schalk (Bellevue) came off the bench to dish out a season-high nine assists for DC.

The Yellow Jackets had another great shooting night, going 28-of-58 (48.3 percent) from the floor and seven-of-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. The Ravens shot just 16-of-51 (31.4 percent) overall and seven-of-22 (31.8 percent) from deep. Defiance also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Anderson, 47-26.

After Anderson (5-13, 2-9 HCAC) scored the first two markers of the game, Defiance (10-8, 7-4 HCAC) went on to score 10 of the next 12 points, including two triples from junior Mekai White (Cincinnati/Winton Woods), to give DC a 10-4 edge. The Ravens battled to cut the lead to four points when sophomore Sam Ervin (Bloomdale/Elmwood) and Smay dropped consecutive buckets to give DC a 19-11 advantage. The road team cut the deficit to six points, but Tietje added a layup at the horn and Defiance held a 21-13 lead after a quarter of play.

Conine connected on two straight jumpers to get the Defiance lead to 12 points, 25-13, two minutes into the second period. Following a triple by Anderson, Ervin added a layup and Williams hit a three of her own to give DC their biggest lead at 30-16. The Ravens pulled to within 30-20 before Tietje tallied six straight points, to go along with a Williams three pointer, that increase the Defiance lead to 39-20 at the break.

The Ravens scored the first four points of the third quarter to make it a 39-24 contest. The teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the quarter, as the Defiance lead stayed between 14 and 18 points for the entirety of the period which ended with another layup by Tietje to give DC a 53-37 lead entering the final frame.

Anderson began the fourth quarter with a triple to make the score, 53-40, but Smay responded with a triple and Tietje added a lay-in to get the DC lead out to 58-40. Anderson looked to make a late push narrowing the lead down to 12 points again before a three-point play by Tietje, and anorther triple from Williams, gave Defiance a more comfortable, 66-48, advantage with 2:30 to play. Anderson scored the final nine points of the game, going nine-of-10 from the charity stripe, but still ended the game with a 66-57 defeat at the hands of the Yellow Jackets.

Defiance will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they travel to Hanover, Ind. to take on Hanover College in an HCAC matchup that will be part of a basketball doubleheader with the DC men's team. The women's game is set for 1 p.m., followed by the men at 3 p.m.