A tough start doomed the Hillsdale College women's basketball team in a road loss at Wayne State on Wednesday night, as the Charger fell into a 15-point hole in the first quarter and couldn't fully close the gap in a 79-59 loss to the Warriors.

Junior Annalise Pietrzyk led Hillsdale with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, including 4 of 7 shooting from deep, as the Chargers couldn't overcome a strong night in the paint from the physical Warriors, who scored 48 points in the paint and shot 24 free throws to Hillsdale's nine, making 17 of them.

Ellie Bruce added 10 points and five rebounds for the Chargers, Savannah Smith chipped in 11 points off the bench, and Magdalena Sularski finished with nine points and five rebounds for Hillsdale, which struggled with 22 turnovers against an aggressive Wayne State defense, leading to 25 Warriors points. The Chargers shot a respectable 40.4% from the floor but the difference in quality possessions from Wayne State's turnover advantage was too much to overcome.

Hillsdale (2-1) will look to bounce back on Saturday, as the Chargers travel to another GLIAC foe, Lake Superior State, for a 1 p.m. contest.