February 7, 2009 - The Hillsdale College women's basketball team had been looking forward to a rematch with one of the two teams it lost to this season, Grand Valley State. Saturday afternoon, the Chargers played like the wait was well worth it.

Thanks to another scintillating performance from senior Katie Cezat, and unbelievably clutch shooting from freshman Chelsea Harrison (pictured), Hillsdale College defeated the Lakers 75-66 in front of a huge crowd at Jesse Philips Arena. The win improves the Chargers to 19-2 on the season and 14-2 in the GLIAC.

Coupled with an overtime loss by Michigan Tech, Hillsdale now sits just one game behind the Huskies in the overall GLIAC standings.

The game was played in front of the biggest crowd to see a game in Hillsdale this season, and both teams played with postseason-like intensity. Neither team shot better than 40 percent in the first half, as both defenses, two of the very best in the conference, controlled the tempo early on.

A layup by Grand Valley's Jasmine Padin at the first half buzzer made the score 29-26 Hillsdale at intermission. Although the game was in doubt until the final seconds, the Chargers never lost that lead in the second half, a credit to their mental toughness and ability to execute against a physical and active Laker defense.

Neither team scored during a four-minute stretch in the second half, but the Lakers were able to cut the Hillsdale lead to one with 9:43 left in the game on a layup by veteran Kim Wyngaard.

Than, the Chargers took control with brilliant offensive execution and variety, that prevented the Lakers from keying in on any one player, even one as brilliant as Cezat.

Hillsdale's All-American forward had a second half more than worthy of the title. She finished the game with a season-high 38 points to go along with 23 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots while playing all 40 minutes.

In the second half alone, Cezat accounted for 27 points and 12 boards. In the final 9:43, Cezat scored 15 points, making all four of her free throws in the game's waning seconds. But she also had some help from a freshman guard who keeps getting better and better.

Harrison nailed three 3-point field goals in less than five minutes to provide huge points for the Chargers, forcing the Lakers to continue playing from behind in the crucial final nine minutes of the contest.

One of Michigan's best shooters coming out of Lowell High School last year, Harrison has maintained that status with her fine play this year, and in few games has it been more evident or clutch than it was Saturday. She finished the game with 15 points, going 3-for-6 from 3-point land while making all six of her free throws.

The Chargers have now beaten the Lakers two years in a row at home. Grand Valley edged Hillsdale in Allendale 71-69 back on Dec. 20. Hillsdale was 22-for-25 from the free throw line as a team in Saturday's rematch.

Junior guard Brooke Knight was again outstanding at ballhandling and distributing, leading all players with nine assists in the contest. Knight, Janay Miller and Claire Aubrey each had six points, with Aubrey's defense playing a key role in Hillsdale's total defensive effort.

The Lakers, who have an extremely talented core of frreshmen, were led by one of those, Emma Veach, who scored 21 points to go along with five rebounds.

Hillsdale stays at home next week, hosting Wayne State at 6 p.m. Thursday. Click on the link below for the box score from Saturday's game.


Box score