Welcoming a nationally-ranked squad to Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena on Wednesday night, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season and in recent program history with a stunning 76-61 win over #19/24 Ferris State.

Facing down the defending Midwest Regional champions, Hillsdale dominated the contest nearly from start to finish, trailing for just 22 seconds in the first quarter and spending a large chunk of the second half leading by double digits. 

Key to the victory was a dominant defensive performance by the Chargers, who held the offensively electric Bulldogs completely in check and to more than 20 points below their season average. Ferris State shot just 30.9% from the field and 24.2% from 3-point range against a determined Hillsdale effort, as the Chargers had the Bulldogs well-scouted and gave Ferris few openings to work with.

Offensively, the Chargers dominated the game in the post, breaking down Ferris' 2-3 zone and getting several layups at the rim. Hillsdale outscored the Bulldogs 34-16 on paint points and got a combined 25 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the floor from centers Savannah Smith and Ellie Bruce, with virtually all of their scoring coming in the restricted area.

Hillsdale supplemented that great effort in the paint with a solid 3-point shooting performance led by sophomore Annalise Pietrzyk, who came off the bench to lead all scorers with 19 points. Pietrzyk was 4 of 8 from beyond the arc and also chipped in six rebounds.

Trailing 11-9 late in the first quarter, senior Caitlin Splain hit a 3-pointer to put the Chargers back ahead and kick off an 11-0 Hillsdale run that carried into the second quarter. Now holding a double-digit lead, Hillsdale never looked back, carrying a 35-26 edge into halftime and, after a 22-point third quarter, a 15-point lead into the final period.

Along with Pietrzyk and Hillsdale's post tandem, junior Emma Ruhlman had the best game of her Chargers career off the bench, scoring a career high 11 point and chipping in three rebounds and two assists as well. Splain added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists to give the Chargers five players in double figures, and Lauren McDonald added seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals as well.

The huge upset win gets Hillsdale back to .500 at 5-5 overall heading into the Christmas break, and the Chargers are also 2-1 in the G-MAC. Hillsdale will take two weeks off before returning to the court on Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in a road contest against Ohio Dominican. That game is a rematch of an earlier conference meeting between the Chargers and Panthers on Dec. 5, which Hillsdale won in a 64-62 thriller.

Photo by Emma Purdy