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Women fall to Grand Valley in fourth
straight loss
By Cheryl Heitzman
Collegian Reporter
Although the women's basketball team has struggled
since the winter break, many great individual performances are
keeping spirits high.
Freshman Jenn Carlson was named GLIAC South
Player of the Week on Dec. 8. She earned the honor for averaging
20.6 points per game in that week, helping the team overcome
Saginaw Valley State, Wayne State and upset undefeated Lake
Superior State.
Since Christmas, however, the team has suffered
a four-game losing streak in the GLIAC.
The Chargers fell to Grand Valley State on
Saturday, 71-61. The loss puts the team at 6-10 and 3-4 in the
GLIAC.
A strong defensive stand at the end of the
second stanza plus a three-point play by freshman Nikki Wustman
put the Chargers within four points. But as time wore down,
Hillsdale was forced to foul and the Lakers put the game out
of reach from the free throw line.
"Against Grand Valley our biggest problems
were rebounding and offense. We'd get a defensive stop but then
couldn't take advantage of it," Wustman said.
"We'd have stretches where we'd get good
shots, but they wouldn't fall. Plus, almost every time we missed
a defensive rebound it resulted in them making a basket."
Wustman scored a team-high 18 points and 10
rebounds on the way to her first collegiate double-double. Freshman
Jodie Haines added 11 points, and sophomore Gretchen Rocco tallied
14 to cap off her career week.
Rocco earned a spot on the GLIAC honor roll
for the week of Jan. 12 for her work on the court. She made
a huge offensive contribution in the last four games, and twice
achieved her season high of 14 points. Wustman also earned a
spot on last week's honor roll.
Last Thursday against Ferris State, the Chargers
found themselves down big early, but fought back from a 14-point
deficit to within two at the half. After a back and forth battle,
Ferris pulled it out, 70-67.
Wustman led all scorers with 23 points and
nine rebounds, and Haines added 12.
Coach Claudette Charney cited the strong play
of freshman Maria Sciarini and Haines in the loss.
"[Sciarini] really stepped it up and
played well against Ferris," Charney said. "Plus,
Haines has really proved herself to be a consistent player."
The team also suffered two losses in the Upper
Peninsula to Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan.
"Unfortunately, the two-week break we
had really hurt us," Charney said. "The freshmen from
Michigan just aren't used to playing in January. We have to
get them used to the college grind."
Senior Teresa Stuck agreed, and said the team
was not in the right frame of mind to go north.
"We worked very hard over break and it
was nice to spend some time with family and friends," Stuck
said. "Unfortunately though, we had quite a bit of time
in between games and we didn't take the right mentality into
our first game back [at Northern Michigan] and that hurt us."
Before Christmas the team went 1-1 in the
Southern Polytechnic State Classic after falling to Spring Arbor
previously.
"Defensively, we did everything we had
to do to win but we really needed to hit some shots," Charney
said. "We know what we are capable of doing, we just have
to be consistent. If we can just get a couple more people to
play consistently we're there."
The Chargers will travel to Mercyhurst next
Thursday.
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