Daniel Williams/Collegian
Freshman Claire Aubrey fights for the ball while Juniors Jodie Haines (l) and Crystal Yoder and Freshman Katie Cezat look on.
The Charger women’s basketball team improved their record to 4-1 on the season after winning Saturday’s home game against Saginaw Valley State University, 74-56. It was Hillsdale’s first game of the season against a conference opponent.
“Overall, I think it was a very good game from execution on offense to defensive intensity,” said Claudette Charney, head coach for the Chargers. “We felt it was a great effort from a defensive point [of view] in the second half. As the game went on, we started to pull away.”
The Chargers managed to outscore Saginaw Valley 39-20 in the second half alone.
Junior forward Nikki Wustman finished the game with 22 points, five rebounds and two steals, while junior Jodie Haines finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers.
Haines made 5 of 5 free throw shots and junior Jesse Miller also made 8 of 9 shots from the free-throw line to give the Chargers eight points.
“[The game] was a lot of fun,” said Miller. “We came out with a lot of energy and we were all fired up for our first conference game. Everyone played hard.”
Charney called the win this Saturday a “big lift” after Hillsdale’s disappointing loss last week to a Division I opponent, Cleveland State University. The final score was 77-54, with the Chargers shooting just 21 percent from the field in the first half.
Junior Jenn Carlson finished with 14 points and went 4-for-7 from the three point range against Cleveland. Wustman finished with 10 points and four rebounds and Miller added eight points for the Chargers.
Charney said the Chargers played better in the second half but were unable to make up for the deficit in the first half.
“We just didn’t have the intensity we needed to beat a Division I school,” Charney said. “It’s unfortunate because you have to learn the lesson that that can’t happen.”
“We need to come into every game prepared to play, no matter who it is because we have the capability and talent to beat any team we play,” Miller said.
Overall, however, Charney says she is confident about the strength of her team.
“I think we’re just a very balanced team that has very strong guard play and post play,” she said.
Miller said she has seen improvement in the team even since the start of the season.
“Our defense has really come together and on the offensive end we are making free throws and executing plays,” she said.
The Chargers face a tough stretch in their next few games as they go on the road against two conference rivals. Their next game is this Thursday against Mercyhurst.
“We’re just going to take it one game at a time,” Charney said about the Chargers’ mindset going into the next few games. “[We’ll] continue our philosophy of defense first [and] make it hard for other teams to score.”
“We have some big conference games coming up,” Miller said. “We need to prove to the south division that we are the team that is going to win.”