The Hillsdale College women's basketball team started slow on the road on Thursday, but finished with a flurry to take a critical 62-55 win at Lake Erie.

The Chargers trailed the Storm for three-quarters of the game and by as many as nine in the fourth quarter, but locked in at both ends of the floor late to rally, outscoring Lake Erie 16-0 in the final five and a half minutes of the game.

Lake Erie's last basket of the contest came at the 5:44 mark in the fourth quarter, and from there the Storm couldn't penetrate a ferocious Hillsdale defense determined to get the win on the road.

At the other end, Hillsdale methodically chipped away at a 55-49 Lake Erie lead. The Chargers tied the game on a layup by Sarah Aleknavicius with 1:39 to play, and Savannah Smith scored the layup that put the Chargers ahead for good off an inbounds play with 34 seconds to go.

Lake Erie was forced to foul after a Hillsdale stop at the other end, and the Chargers' aim from the free throw line was true, as Hillsdale went 5 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final 25 seconds to seal the victory.

Two Hillsdale stars accounted for 50 of the Chargers' 62 points on the night, as Annalise Pietrzyk and Savannah Smith carried a heavy load. Pietrzyk shot 50% from the floor and hit three 3-pointers on the way to a 25 point, five rebound, three steal performance, and Smith matched her with 25 points on 12 of 23 shooting, along with eight rebounds and two steals.

Aleknavicius had the game-tying bucket and finished with five points and three rebounds for the Chargers, while Emma Ruhlman chipped in seven assists and nine rebounds for Hillsdale. 

The Chargers shot 57.1% from the floor in the fourth quarter and scored 16 points off 15 Lake Erie turnovers to overcome a poor shooting night overall and getting outrebounded 37-29 by the Storm.

Hillsdale improves to 13-8 overall, 9-6 in G-MAC play and remains in sixth place in the league standings. The Chargers have a chance to make a big move up the leaderboard in the conference if it can get a win at Ashland on Saturday at 1 p.m., but it'll be a tough task for Hillsdale, which hasn't won a road contest in Ashland since Dec. 19, 2010.