Lake Erie 66, Hillsdale 64


February 1, 2012 – This one felt like a punch to the stomach.

The Hillsdale College women’s basketball game suffered possibly its most frustrating loss of the season Wednesday night, 66-64, to Lake Erie College in a GLIAC matchup at Hillsdale’s Jesse Philips Arena. The Chargers are now 10-10 overall and 6-7 in the conference with the loss.

The Storm took its first and only lead of the second half on a pair of made free throws with seven seconds to play. A foul was called on Hillsdale on a scramble for a loose ball near the Lake Erie baseline. Several players were on the ground, grabbing for the ball, but the foul was whistled on the Chargers. One final attempt at the basket after the two made free throws by the Storm came up empty for Hillsdale,

Hillsdale led the game by as many as 15 points in the second half of this rough-and-tumble contest. But the Chargers played most of the game down one starter, and the Storm made all the key shots down the stretch to pull back into the lead in the late stages of the game.

Lake Erie attempted twice as many free throws as Hillsdale (22-11), and to the Storm’s credit, made 19 of them for a percentage of 86.4. Hillsdale went 7-for-11 from the line as a team in the game.

Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field in the contest, and the Storm outrebounded the Chargers 41-36. Hillsdale blocked a season-high eight shots, including a career-high three by sophomore forward Angela Bisaro.

Senior guard Chelsea Harrison led Hillsdale with 16 points in the game, while playing all 40 minutes. Senior Katie Bildner scored all 13 of her points in the first half, and junior Lea Jones had 10 points in 40 minutes of action.

Senior forward Elizabeth Brannick played a tough, physical game in the paint and contributed a hard-earned nine points and eight rebounds. Four of Lake Erie’s five starters scored in double figures in the game.