Yellow Jackets open 2019-20 season at Olivet

OLIVET, Mich. - The Defiance College women's basketball team tipped-off the 2019-20 season on road Wednesday evening. The Yellow Jackets under the direction of second-year Head Coach Allan King, Jr. traveled to take on the Olivet College Comets and fell by a final score of 64-50. 

The Yellow Jackets' first three points of the season came from senior Liz Martin (Bellefontaine, Ohio / Bellefontaine), who drained a shot from beyond the arc. 

The Comets held a close lead until the freshman Briana Townley (Paulding, Ohio / Paulding) made a jumper to tie up the game at 13. The sides fought back and forth as Defiance kept the lead until the home side sunk a three to regain the control. The sides continued to battle for the remainder of the quarter. As the buzzer sounded, Olivet held a 33-30 advantage. 

In the third quarter, the Purple and Gold kept within three of Olivet, making several field goals to stay within reach of the home side. The Comets made a clutch three at the end of the third, as the Yellow Jackets trailed 43-40. 

Defiance continued to battle in the fourth quarter, but the Olivet stayed consistent from beyond the arc to extend their lead. After a hard-fought battle, the Yellow Jackets fell 64-50. 

Offensively, junior Taylor Day (West Mansfield, Ohio / North Union) led the Yellow Jackets with 9 points, while adding six rebounds, including two offensive boards. Senior Danielle Carruthers (New London, Ohio / New London) led on the glass for the Purple and Gold grabbing ten boards, one block, while tallying four points.  

Defiance shot 23.3% from the field on the evening. The Yellow Jackets had a tough night from beyond the arc as the hosts shot 36.7% mark from deep. 

After the game, Coach King commented; "While we evened up the score in the second quarter, it seemed that a consistent three-point shooting Olivet team got the best of us." King added, "We had some opening night jitters. We are a young team that played a hard-fought game with a lot of room to grow." 

The defeat in the season opener starts the DC season with a 0-1 mark. The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 16th, as they head to the University of Findlay, where they will take on the Oilers for an exhibition match at 3:00 pm.