Yellow Jackets Sports Weekly Recap (Dec. 12- Dec. 18)
By: Brandon Unverferth
Photography: Hanna Young
Women’s Basketball: Tue. Dec. 13, Thurs. Dec. 15, and Sun. Dec. 18
12/13: Defiance 67 (2-5), Adrian College 59 (3-5)
The Defiance College women’s basketball team traveled to Adrian, Michigan, Tuesday evening to take on the Adrian Bulldogs in non-conference action. The starters in this contest included (senior) Nicole Sims, (senior) Lexie Sparks, (senior) Lauren Criblez, (junior) McKenzie Cooper, and (junior) Cait Good. Thirty-nine seconds into the game, junior Cait Good splashed home an open three-pointer for the Yellow Jackets first points of the contest. Nearly three-minutes later, senior Lexie Sparks was the next player to find the bottom of the net, as she knocked in a mid-range jumper to give Defiance a 5-0 early lead. Four seconds prior to the midway point of the first quarter (5:04 left in the 1st), the Bulldogs finally made their way onto the scoreboard as freshman Ashlyn Weatherly was able to connect on a layup to make cut the Yellow Jackets lead to six (8-2). Adrian finished the first quarter on a 8-0 scoring run, which tied things up at eighteen after ten minutes of play. Twenty-four seconds into the second quarter, freshman Zadria King was able to score her first points of the contest (off an open layup), to tie things up at 20. Midway through the first quarter, Defiance held a five point lead (30-25). With 1-minute and 30 seconds left until the half, junior Julia Tierman connected on a three-pointer off an assist from sophomore Kylie Skidmore, to tie the game at 34. Skidmore followed her three-pointer with a pair of made free throws to give Adrian the lead, but shortly after junior McKenzie Cooper splashed home a pair of free-throws her own self, to tie the game at 36 into the halftime break. Junior Kylie Brinkman opened the second half with her third three-pointer of the contest (9:46 left in the 3rd), to give Defiance the lead 39-36. Midway through the third, the Yellow Jackets maintained a short advantage of 42-40. With 4:50 left in the 3rd, junior Julia Tierman connected on another bucket from downtown, as she put the Bulldogs back in front 43-42. Junior Kylie Brinkman bit her fifth (2:51 left in the 3rd) and sixth (0:49 left) three-pointers of the contest towards the end of the 3rd quarter, as she put the Yellow Jackets back out in front 52-49. Coming into the final ten minutes of play, Defiance had a slight (two-point) lead over Adrian 53-51. With 7:39 left, sophomore Bailey Taylor found her way to the rim for an open layup, as she tied the game at 57. Twenty-four seconds later (7:15 left), junior Cait Good connected on a layup and senior Nicole Sims connected on pair of free throws (6:50 left) to give the Yellow Jackets a four point lead (61-57). Both teams went on a cold streak following Sims’s free-throws, as the next basket of the contest came with 2:59 left as junior Cait Good capitalized on an open jump shot from the right wing 63-57). In the end, Defiance came out on top 67-59. The Yellow Jackets finished with a trio of players in double-digits including junior Kylie Brinkman (18), junior Cait Good (11), and senior Taylor Steinbrunner (10). Adrian also finished with a trio of players in double-digit scoring including junior Julia Tierman (16), sophomore Kylie Skidmore (14), and freshman Ashlyn Weatherly (10). Junior Kylie Brinkman shot an incredible 6-7 (85.7%) from behind the arc. Defiance shot 44.6% (25-56) from the field, while Adrian shot 34.4% (22-64). The Yellow Jackets hit 10 threes on twenty-three attempts (43.5%), while Adrian shot 19.2% (5-26) from the behind the arc. The Bulldogs led the way in free-throw percentage shooting 83.3% (10-12), compared to Defiance’s 70% (7-10) from the charity stripe. Each team recorded 33 rebounds, including an Adrian advantage 12-10 offensively and a Defiance 23-21 defense advantage. The largest lead for the Yellow Jackets was nine (15-6, with 3:04 left in the 1st) while the largest lead for Adrian was three (45-42, with 3:13 left in the 3rd). Defiance dominated the bench points category 39-29.
When junior McKenzie Cooper was asked by The Defender about her thoughts following the non-conference victory at Adrian, she expressed,
“I think tonight was the closest we have been to a complete game. After focusing on rebounding for the past week, we finally broke even on the boards. I think getting this win under our belts helped us realize that when we execute, we can compete with anybody. Overall, I am really happy about the road win and hoping to get another one Thursday at Hiram!“
12/15: Defiance 68 (3-5), Hiram College 54 (4-4)
The Yellow Jackets women’s basketball team traveled to Hiram, Ohio, Thursday evening for a non-conference showdown against the Hiram Terriers. The starters in this contest included (graduate) Taylor Day, (senior) Lauren Criblez, (senior) Taylor Steinbrunner, (sophomore) Teagan Hunt, and (freshman) Kalista Friday. Three minutes and thirty-one seconds into the game, freshman Kalista Friday put the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard, as she was able to knock down a pair of free-throws from the charity stripe (2-2). Nineteen seconds later (6:10 left in the 1st), junior Maddie Rakestraw splashed home a bucket from downtown, to give the Terriers a 5-2 advantage. At the midway point of the first quarter, Hiram had a slight lead over the Yellow Jackets 5-4. Both teams went scoreless over the next two and a half minutes, before junior McKenzie Cooper found her way to the rim, to give Defiance their first lead of the contest at 6-5. With 1:59 and 1:28 left in the first quarter, junior Maddie Rakestraw knocked down a pair of three-pointers (her third of the contest) to stretch Hiram’s lead out to five (11-6). Freshman Ava Mory found an open lane to the bucket for a layup with fifty-six seconds left in the first, to conclude the Terriers 8-0 scoring run. Senior Lexie Sparks was able to connect on a pair of free-throws (0:54 left in the first) and graduate Taylor Day capitalized on a short-range jumper (0:27 left), which cut Defiance’s deficit to three (13-10). Senior Taylor Steinbrunner scored the first points of the second quarter for the Yellow Jackets, as she connected on a pair of free-throws following a foul by freshman Ava Mory (15-12). With 7:33 left in the second quarter, junior Cait Good “buried“ a long-range triple, which tied the game at 15. At the midway point of the second quarter, the Yellow Jackets regained a lead of 21-20. Defiance led by as much as ten (32-22) in the late stages of the second quarter, but Hiram was able to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to six (32-26) into the halftime break. Junior McKenzie Cooper splashed home a three-pointer to open the second half (8:49 left in the third), as she stretched the Yellow Jackets lead back to nine (35-26). Shortly after (8:10 left in the third), senior Taylor Steinbrunner connected a three-pointer of her own, to give Defiance a thirteen point lead (39-26). At the midway point of the third quarter, Defiance maintained a double-digit lead of ten (41-31). Both teams remained scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes, before senior Haley Thompson scored via a pull up jumper (2:36 left in the third) to cut Hiram’s deficit back to single digits (41-33). To conclude the third quarter, Defiance stretched their lead back to thirteen (48-35). The Terriers and Yellow Jackets went back and forth in the fourth quarter, but in the end, Defiance outscored Hiram 20-19 in the final ten minutes of the contest to take the victory 68-54. The Yellow Jackets finished with a trio of players in double-digit scoring including freshman Kalista Friday (18), senior Taylor Steinbrunner (14), and senior Lexie Sparks (12). Hiram finished with two players in double-digits including sophomore Brooke Hickman (19) and junior Maddie Rakestraw (11). Defiance shot 39% (23-59) from the field, while Hiram shot 29.2% (19-65). Both teams struggled from three point range as the Yellow Jackets shot 31.6% (6-19), while the Terriers shot 20% (5-25). Defiance shot an impressive 84.2% (16-19) from the free-throw line, while Hiram shot 78.6% (11-14) from the charity stripe. The Terriers out-rebounded Defiance 39-28, including an offensive rebound advantage of 15-7. The Yellow Jackets bench dominated Hiram’s bench, as Defiance outscored the Terriers 44-12 in the bench points category. One of the main differences in the game was turnovers, as Hiram committed 22 compared to Defiance’s 11.
12/18: Defiance 66 (4-5), Wooster College 40 (1-9)
The Defiance College women’s basketball team welcomed the Wooster Fighting Scots to the Karl H. Weaner Center Sunday afternoon for a non-conference showdown. The starters in this contest included (senior) Nicole Sims, (senior) Lexie Sparks, (junior) McKenzie Cooper, (junior) Kylie Brinkman, and (junior) Cait Good. Fifty-five seconds into the game, junior McKenzie Cooper scored the first points of the contest for the Yellow Jackets, as she capitalized on an open lane to the basket for the layup (2-0). Forty-one seconds later (8:24 left in the 1st), junior Cait Good scored a basket of her own to give Defiance a 4-2 advantage. At the midway point of the first quarter, Defiance had stretched their lead to six (8-2). With 2:48 left in the first, graduate Taylor Day found her way to the rim for a layup to give Defiance a 10-4 lead. In the final two and a half minutes of the first quarter, Defiance went on a 8-2 scoring run to stretch the lead to double-digits (18-6). The Yellow Jackets opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run, which extended the Defiance lead to fifteen with 7:45 left until halftime, at 23-8. At the half, Defiance had a lead of fifteen (31-16). With 5:47 left in the third, the Fighting Scots trimmed the lead down to fourteen, before Defiance stretched the lead back up to eighteen to conclude the quarter (45-27). The Yellow Jackets kept their momentum in the fourth quarter and captured the victory 66-40. In Defiance’s third straight game with 60 points or more, 11 different players got in the scorers column including senior Taylor Steinbrunner (15), graduate Taylor Day (10), junior Cait Good (9), junior McKenzie Cooper (8), senior Lauren Criblez (7), junior Kylie Brinkman (5), freshman Kalista Friday (5), freshman Zadria King (2), freshman Kloey Webb (2), senior Nicole Sims (2), and senior Lexie Sparks (1). Wooster scoring came from seven different players including freshman Ella Biondi (12), freshman Shalen Guiliams (9), senior Namara Rwakatare (8), freshman Nella Dean (5), freshman Chloe Pordash (3), freshman Erica Beaty (2), and junior Alyssa Chritz (1). Defiance shot 38.2% (26-68) from the field, while the Fighting Scots shot 27.8% (15-54). Both teams struggled to make shots from beyond the arc, as Defiance shot 26.1% (6-23) and Wooster shot 17.2% (5-29). Defiance shot an impressive 80% (8-10) from the free-throw line, while the Fighting Scots shot 62.5% (5-8) from the charity stripe. Defiance out-rebounded Wooster 51-33. The Yellow Jackets held the Fighting Scots to just six second-chance points, while Defiance recorded 16. The points in the paint category was dominated by the Yellow Jackets 26-16, while bench points was also controlled by Defiance 41-18.
Men’s Basketball: Wed. Dec. 14
Defiance 85 (3-5), Olivet College 73 (2-5)
The Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team hosted the Olivet Comets at the Karl H. Weaner Center Wednesday evening for a non-conference matchup. The starters in this contest included (senior) Marell Jordan, (senior) Dejsani Beamon, (sophomore) Landen Swanner, (freshman) Evan Conrad, and (freshman) Jordyn Jury. Seventeen seconds into the game, senior Marell Jordan capitalized on an open mid-range jump shot to give Defiance their first points of the contest and a 2-0 early lead. Jordan’s opening basket was the start of a Yellow Jackets 11-2 scoring run, which allowed Defiance to jump out to an impressive 11-2 lead only 2-minutes and thirty one seconds in. At the midway point of the first half, the Yellow Jackets maintained a lead of 22-18. Defiance went on a 8-0 scoring run from the 11:19 mark of the first half, through the 15:03 mark, to stretch the Yellow Jackets lead to 33-25. The Yellow Jackets concluded the first half on another scoring run, this time a 7-2 advantage, to take a 46-34 lead into the halftime break. Senior Marell Jordan had 19 points through the first twenty minutes, off 8-9 shooting from the field, including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Landen Swanner had 13 points at the half, off 5-9 shooting from the field, including a huge three-pointer hit late in the first half. Fifteen seconds into the second half, senior Derrick Johnson splashed home a quick three-pointer for the Comets, to cut the deficit back to single digits (nine). Forty-two seconds later (19:11 left), sophomore Landen Swanner continued off his scoring momentum from the first half, as he found an open lane to the bucket for a quick layup (50-39). Senior Noah Wiswary answered Swanner’s quick basket with a three-pointer of his own, as he cut the deficit to eight (50-42). At both the 17:37 mark and 17:07 mark, sophomore Landen Swanner splashed home a pair of three-pointers adding to his point total of 23, which helped stretch the Yellow Jackets lead back to twelve (56-44). At the 16:09 mark, Swanner was able to find the back of the net with another open layup (58-47). The layup concluded Swanner’s twelve straight point scoring run for Defiance. At the midway point of the second half, Defiance managed to build up their largest lead of the game at fifteen (71-56). Olivet was able to cut the deficit back to eleven (71-60) with less than nine minutes to go, but the Yellow Jackets fought strong in the final eight minutes of the game to take the victory 85-73. Sophomore Landen Swanner led all scorers in the contest with an impressive 33 points, while senior Marell Jordan finished with a strong 32 points. Senior Te Jones also finished in double-digits for the Yellow Jackets, as he added 11 points to the Defiance scoring total. Olivet finished with a trio of players in double-digit scoring including freshman Haidyn Garrison (14), sophomore Lorris Upshaw (13), and senior Tevin Ali (12). Defiance shot 47.1% (32-68) from the field, while the Comets shot 46.3% (25-54). The Yellow Jackets shot an impressive 47.6% (10-21) from behind the arc, while Olivet shot 31.6% (6-19) from three-point range. Olivet was consistent from the free-throw line in this contest as they shot 89.5% (17-19), while Defiance shot 64.7% (11-17) from the charity stripe. Olivet out-rebounded Defiance 38-30. The difference in the game was turnovers as Defiance only had 8, compared to the Comets 19. The turnover differential resulted in a 24-7 Yellow Jacket points advantage.
When senior Grant Johnson was asked by The Defender about his thoughts following Wednesday’s victory over Olivet, he expressed, “Tonight was a great team win. We finally executed defensively all 40 minutes to allow our offense to explode! We are heading into our New York trip looking to snag two more wins before Christmas.“
Home
Monday, Dec. 19
Women’s Basketball (4-5) vs Kalamazoo College (0-10)
Location: Karl H. Weaner Center
(7:00 pm)
Away
Monday, Dec. 19
Men’s Basketball (3-5) at Mount St. Vincent College (3-6)
(2:00 pm)
Wednesday, Dec. 21
Men’s Basketball (3-5) at Immaculata University (3-7)
(2:00 pm)
