The Hilbert College women's basketball season came to a crashing end after they suffered a 61-42 NCAA Division III First Round loss to the Lions from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Friday night. The Hawks (21-7) closed the season with one of their lowest offensive scoring performances against a very aggressive and defensive-minded team from the New Jersey Athletic Coast Conference.
Sophomore Taylor Corts carried the Hawks offensively as the only Hilbert player to post double digit points.
The Lions (22-6) will face RIT in a Second Round game tomorrow afternoon as the Tigers defeated the University of New England in the opening game this afternoon.
Hilbert scored 11 points off their 16 offensive rebounds and 10 points off Lion turnovers. But the Hawks made only 27 percent of their shots from the floor with many of the miscues occurring inside the paint.
TCNJ forced 17 Hilbert turnovers, were credited with 10 blocks and their bench outscored the Hawks 18-0.
Corts finished with 18 points fueled by her 4-of-6 hits from deep (50% from the floor). She also earned three offensive rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals.
Senior Kelsi Ebert concluded her four-year career as the program's All Time leader with 1,275 points, 351 assists, 221 steals, and 100 games spanning 3,222 career minutes. The 5-6 point guard added eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal in her final game wearing the Hilbert royal and white.
Junior Katelyn Proy chipped in eight points and eight rebounds. She and Ashley Repine (six points, eight rebounds) each were credited with three blocks in a game where neither team shot any bonus free throws since only 17 total fouls were called.
Emily Gawlak pulled down five defensive rebounds and matched Ebert with three assists.
Corts put the game's first points on the board at 8:43 and she dragged Hilbert back into the game in the second quarter. She knocked down two consecutive three-point shots knotting the game 15-all as the Hawks battled back from a 15-9 first quarter deficit.
Both teams traded buckets on their next two trips and Repine forced only the third tie score at 6:09 (19-19)
The Lions went on a 10-0 run before Corts sliced the difference below ten again. Yet the hosts held Hilbert scoreless the rest of the quarter and sprinted to the locker room with a 34-21 advantage.
Hilbert limited the College of New Jersey from the perimeter the first 14 minutes of the game. The Lions then found players floating in the paint for easy marks or in transition lanes as they closed the half.
TCNJ stretched their lead to 20-points before the Hawks found the bottom of the net in the third quarter. Abbey Monahan created a great passing angle and found Repine in the paint.
On three different occasions Hilbert sliced the difference to 14 points, but the Lions responded with a 4-0 run re-setting the game at 50-32 at the start of the final session.
Proy strung together a six-point swing (52-38) but that was as close as Hilbert would get falling in defeat.