January 26, 2008 - Junior forward Katie Cezat wrote her name into the Hillsdale College women's basketball record book Saturday afternoon.

Cezat scored 24 points and grabbed a school-record 25 rebounds to help lead the Chargers to a hard-fought 61-54 victory over Gannon University at Jesse Philips Arena. Hillsdale is now 15-3 overall and 8-2 in the GLIAC this season, while the Golden Knights are 5-5 in conference play.

Hillsdale now has a stranglehold on the GLIAC South Division, enjoying a three-game lead on Gannon, the defending conference champs. The Chargers face another tough home test Thursday night when they take on Grand Valley State University starting at 6 p.m.

Cezat has burst onto the scene this year after being behind more experienced players on the roster in her first two seasons. She is second in the GLIAC in scoring, and increased her conference-leading rebounding average to 12.4 with her incredible performance vs. Gannon.

Cezat had 20 rebounds on the defensive end alone, which was one short of her previous career-high, and the old school record. She had 21 rebounds in a win over Ashland back on Jan. 3.

In defeating Gannon, Hillsdale was able to stop a four-game losing streak in the series vs. the Golden Knights. In what has become one of the best rivalries in the GLIAC, Gannon and Hillsdale traded heavy shots throughout the game, with the Golden Knights playing tough for all 40 minutes.

Gannon led the game 34-33 at halftime, but the Chargers came out with a superlative team defensive effort in the second half.

The Golden Knights shot just 8-for-30 from the field in the second half. That, combined with clutch free throw shooting by Hillsdale in the second half, was enough to give the Chargers a win in front of their largest home crowd of the season.

Hillsdale made all 10 of its free throws in the game's last 4:29, providing the difference in what was a one-point game. Sophomore Janay Miller made both free throws in a 51-50 game that gave the Chargers a three-point lead. Miller's teammates followed suit, making both shots in each trip to the charity stripe to allow the Chargers enough of a cushion to earn the victory.

Miller was one of three players to score 10 points in the game for Hillsdale, being joined by senior Julie Slot and junior Claire Aubrey. Cezat shot 9-for-16 from the field, and her 25 rebounds also put her into Hillsdale's seingle-season top-10 rebounding list. Cezat also played all 40 minutes of the game.

Kim Vargas led Gannon with 22 points, while Allison Rothlisberger had a team-high 13 rebounds.

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