DEFIANCE, Ohio – As Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play enters the final two weeks of the regular season, the Manchester University women's basketball team opened a busy final stretch with a road contest at Defiance College on Monday night.
The Spartans' 2
nd half rally fell short as the Yellow Jackets defended home court, defeating Manchester by a final score of 84-67.
Manchester and Defiance played a tightly contested 1
st quarter, with the Yellow Jackets holding a narrow 22-17 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. DC's offense continued to click in the 2
nd quarter as the Yellow Jackets were able to blow the game open after outscoring the Black & Gold 22-7 in the period.
Despite trailing by 20 at halftime, the Spartans regrouped in the 3
rd quarter. Manchester outscored Defiance 25-12 in the 10 minutes following intermission to slash it deficit back to single digits.
Despite the push in the 3
rd quarter, Defiance used a 10-2 run to begin the 4
th quarter to reestablish control of the contest.
The Spartans shot 38.3 percent (23-60) in Monday's game. MU was limited to 27.8 percent (5-18) shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Manchester did shoot the ball well from the free throw line, knocking in 16 of its 21 free throw attempts (76.2 percent).
Defiance shot 55.8 percent (29-52) from the floor against the Spartans. The Yellow Jackets finished 9-19 (47.4 percent) from downtown and made 17 of its 22 free throw attempts (77.3 percent).
Senior forward
Macy Miller (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll) led the Spartans with 18 points and six rebounds. Fellow senior
Miranda Bieghler (Plainfield, Ind./South Putnam) added 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Both
Eva Bazzoni (Wabash, Ind./Manchester) and
Hillery Shepherd (Middletown, Ind./Shenandoah) scored in double figures, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively. Shepherd hauled in six rebounds.
Nysha Speed led five Yellow Jackets in double figures with a game-high 21 points. Speed added 10 boards for a double-double.
Manchester (7-11, 4-7 HCAC) is scheduled to host Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Wednesday February 9 at 7:30 p.m. inside of Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.
Defiance (12-7, 7-5 HCAC) is slated to play on the road at Anderson on Wednesday February 9.