January 7, 2010 - Northwood University's Bennett Center has traditionally been a tough place to play for the Hillsdale College women's basketball team. But despite horrible road conditions on the bus ride north to Midland, the Chargers made the long drive worthwhile with a hard-fought victory.

Thanks to outstanding rebounding, defense and free throw shooting down the stretch, the Chargers remained in first place in the GLIAC South Division with a 65-58 win over the Timberwolves Thursday night. Hillsdale, now 5-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference, return home Saturday afternoon for a tilt against Wayne State University.

For years, Hillsdale struggled to defeat Northwood in Midland. This year, with the Timberwolves being picked to win the South Division in the preseason coach's poll, the Chargers figured to be in for one of their toughest tests of the season. And they passed.

Although the weather outside was cold and snowy, Hillsdale opened the game red-hot, building their biggest lead of the season (16 points) inside the game's first 11 minutes. The team made four of its first five shots from 3-point territory in building a 27-11 lead with 9:20 left in the first half.

After entering the second half trailing by nine, the Timberwolves slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually taking a one-point lead, 50-49, with 10:36 left in the game. Northwood used a 10-0 run to climb back into the lead for the first time in the game.

But back-to-back 3-pointers by Chelsea Harrison and Brooke Knight helped halt Northwood's momentum and give the Chargers a five-point edge. Both teams displayed tough defense down the stretch, but Hillsdale used its big advantage on the boards to help seal the win.

The Chargers grabbed four offensive rebounds on two possessions that stretched from the 3:20 mark until 42 seconds remained in the game. Although Hillsdale, ahead 59-58 at the time, did not convert any of those rebounds into points, they kept the ball out of Northwood's hands, and the Timberwolves were eventually forced to foul the Chargers.

Hillsdale was awarded just two free throws in the game's first 39 minutes and 33 seconds. But starting with two makes by sophomore Katie Bildner, the Chargers went 6-for-6 from the line in the game's final 27 seconds. Throw in steals by senior Janay Miller and freshman Emily Anderson, and Hillsdale held Northwood scoreless over the game's final 2:38.

Knight put together one of her best all-around games of the season, leading Hillsdale with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. She also had four steals and made two jump shots that turned the game from a one-point Hillsdale deficit, into a Charger lead, in the second half.

Harrison made four 3-point shots and finished with 14. Miller added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Anderson popped in nine to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Bildner grabbed seven rebounds to go with her eight points.

Hillsdale outrebounded Northwood 40-27 in the game and had 12 steals, and 19 assists on 24 made field goals.

Jodi Ostergren led all players with 25 points for the Timberwolves.

Please click on the link below for the stats from Thursday's game.

Chargers 65, Northwood 58