Still dancing, and still making history.

The Hillsdale College women's basketball team pulled off one of its biggest wins in recent memory on Friday in a G-MAC Tournament Semifinal clash with third-seeded Malone at Ashland, jumping out to an early lead and holding on late for a 54-51 win to advance to the title game for the first time since 2018.

Hillsdale led by as many as 12 points in the fourth after an Emma Ruhlman 3-pointer gave Hillsdale a 44-32 lead with 7:59 to play, but had to scrap to hold onto the lead as Malone caught fire from 3-point range, with five treys in the final eight minutes to pull within a single basket multiple times. Every time Malone made a push, however, the Chargers had an answer. Senior Lauren McDonald was clutch down the stretch, burying a pull-up jumper in the lane with 1:03 to play to put Hillsdale ahead 52-48, and, when Malone responded with a 3-pointer at the other end to cut the lead to one, knocking down two huge free throws to keep the Chargers up by three with 13 seconds to go.

Malone had one final chance to tie but Hillsdale's defense held strong, as a potential overtime-forcing 3-pointer was off the mark as time expired.

Leading 10-8 after a tight first quarter, Hillsdale pulled ahead with back-to-back 3-pointers by Caitlin Splain and Ruhlman to open the second quarter, stretching their lead out to as many as 10 points and taking a 26-17 advantage into halftime after a McDonald layup with eight seconds to go.

The Chargers remained in front throughout the third quarter, but struggled to pull away from the Pioneers, who battled like a team whose season was on the line throughout. Hillsdale was able to match that intensity and urgency blow-for-blow, a big reason the Chargers came out on top.

 Balanced scoring helped Hillsdale take the win in a hard-fought, defensive contest. McDonald led the way with 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and post Ellie Bruce had a massive game at both ends of the floor, flirting with a triple double with 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks. 

Splain added nine points and four rebounds for the Chargers, Ruhlman chipped in eight points and eight rebounds, and Annalise Pietrzyk finished with six points. Marilyn Popplewell didn't score but pulled down a crucial eight rebounds, helping Hillsdale win the rebounding battle against one of the toughest post teams in the G-MAC, 49-35. 

Rebounding was a huge part of Hillsdale's victory, as the Chargers grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and turned them into 13 critical second chance points. Hillsdale also played excellent defense without fouling, holding the Pioneers to just 33.9% shooting from the floor and only three free throws. Malone might not have broken 40 without that late outburst from 3-point range.

Hillsdale improves to 21-8 with the victory and is now in a very strong position to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for their first trip since 2018. The Chargers also will get a shot to punch their ticket to the NCAA tourney and win the G-MAC Tournament title for the first time since that 2017-18 season on Saturday, as Hillsdale takes on host and top seed Ashland in the G-MAC Championship game at 3 p.m. looking to end the Eagles three-year run of dominance atop the conference.

Photo Courtesy of Ashland Athletics