The Hillsdale College women's basketball team took a gut-wrenching road loss on Saturday at Lewis, fouling with one second to go to give up the game-winning free throws to the host Flyers in a 70-68 defeat.

Prior to the foul, senior Lauren McDonald had hit a jumper with four seconds to go to tie the game and potentially force overtime. It was part of a frantic finish in Romeoville, as Lewis had got the lead just seconds before on a steal and coast to coast layup to go ahead 68-66, but missed three subsequent free throws that could have iced the game before McDonald's shot.

The loss is a painful one for the Chargers, who held the lead over the defending GLVC champion Flyers for more than half the contest and rallied from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit just to have a chance late. Hillsdale led by as many as 11 in the second quarter and were up 34-31 on Lewis at halftime.

Hillsdale's young posts had an excellent game to lead the way for the Chargers, with freshman Savannah Smith scoring 16 points on 70% shooting from the floor and chipping in three rebounds, and freshman Ellie Bruce adding 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. McDonald shot 50% from the floor and finished with 15 points and six rebounds for the Chargers, while Caitlin Splain hit three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and dished out a team-high six assists as well.

The Chargers (2-4) will take the next week off for Thanksgiving before opening conference play with a Thursday night contest against Ohio Dominican on Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. at home.

Photo by Elaine Kutas