The Hillsdale College women's basketball team got a big victory to begin G-MAC play at home on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak and pulling out a 64-62 victory over visiting Ohio Dominican in a tight contest.

Hillsdale outscored ODU 21-14 in the fourth quarter, overturning a five point deficit to start the period with strong play down the stretch. Senior Lauren McDonald led the way, scoring 11 of her team-leading 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a late-shot clock layup with 37 seconds to go that gave the Chargers a lead they would hold on to the rest of the way.

The Chargers trailed 52-47 with 7:18 to play but scored the next six points, including layups by Kendall McCormick and McDonald, to pull ahead at 53-52 for the first time in the period. From there, the two teams traded the lead back and forth, with neither squad holding an advantage larger than three points in the final five minutes. McDonald broke a 60-60 deadlock with her layup with 37 seconds to play, and Sydney Pnacek and Caitlin Splain each hit a free throw to help Hillsdale hold on to the lead.

The Chargers trailed by as many as 12 in a rough start in the first quarter, but Hillsdale shot its way back into the game from deep, led by Splain, who knocked down four 3-pointers in the contest to finish with 17 points. The two teams were tied at the half, and though ODU was able to carve out a slight edge in a third quarter where Hillsdale struggled offensively, it wasn't enough of a lead to hold off the Chargers in the fourth.

McDonald added seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks to her 20 points, while Splain chipped in four rebounds as well as her 17 points for Hillsdale. Kendall McCormick finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, Savannah Smith chipped in seven points, four rebounds and two steals, and Magdalena Sularski added five points off the bench.

Hillsdale improves to 3-4 overall, 1-0 in league play and faces another tough test against a Malone team that's slated to contend for a G-MAC crown on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home. If the Chargers can defend home court again, it would show the Chargers plan to be in the mix for the crown as well.

Photo by Sarah Chappelle