The Defiance College Lady Jackets won a HCAC-road battle at Mount St Joseph on Saturday night, 70-65 in overtime.
Meta Gerding and Meghann Savard led DC with 23 and 22 points respectively, while Kelly VanderHorst added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kara Jones chipped in 10 points. Jones and Gerding, who added nine boards, both played all but one minute of the contest, helping the Lady Jackets improve to 3-1 in the HCAC and 7-7 overall.
Defiance survived, despite shooting just 34% from the floor, by holding the Lions to 37% shooting, forcing MSJ into 17 turnovers, and outrebounding their opponent 49-42. Savard hit 12-of-13 free throws for the second time in the last four games to help DC to the win.
The Lady Jackets led 29-26 at the half, after taking a seven point lead on a Gerding jumper at the 4:36 mark of the first period with one of four Jones assists. Kayla Mengerink, Jones and VanderHorst each had four assists in the game. Neither team held a lead of more than five in the second half or overtime.
Mount led by two with under a minute remaining when Savard hit two free throws to tie the game with 52 seconds remaining. Jessica Lester, who ended the game with 13 points for the Lions, hit the second of two free throws after being fouled by Mengerink. Savard went to the line once again and hit 1-of-2 and the Jackets held off a late Lion rush to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, DC outscored the Lions 13-8, with six of those points coming from Savard. After a VanderHorst layup at the 38 second mark that gave DC the lead, Megan Myers sank two charity shots to put the game out of reach and give DC with all-important win.
The Lady Jackets (7-7, 3-1 HCAC) next play on Wednesday when they will entertain the Anderson University Ravens at 7:30 p.m.