King's Career Night Nets First DC Win For Morris

DEFIANCE, Ohio – First-year head coach Jessica Morris and junior Erica King led Defiance to an 80-69 win on Wednesday evening over Alma College, the first of Morris's DC and collegiate coaching career. King tied the all-time Defiance College record in three-pointers made in a single game with seven and finished with a career-high 28 points.

The Yellow Jackets had their best all-around performance of the season against Alma, as DC erupted for 80 points, including 45 in the first half, to cruise to victory in a contest in which the squad never trailed.

Defiance jumped out to a quick 10-point lead with a score of 15-5 after just five minutes of play. The Scots responded with a 13-6 run capped off by a Mallory Pruett trey to cut the lead to 24-21, the closest Alma would get the rest of the evening.

The Jackets abruptly responded by hitting back-to-back threes to increase the lead to a comfortable margin. A Marissa Kath jumper with 15 seconds left in the first half sent the Purple and Gold into the break with a comfortable 45-31 advantage.

The 45-point outburst is the most the Jackets have scored in any half this season. Defiance's offense was efficient in the opening stanza, as the Yellow Jackets shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the first, connecting on 14-24 shots. DC hit 5-7 from beyond the arc, with King accounting for three of the five. Despite the early season struggles at the free throw line, the Purple and Gold were a perfect 12-12 at the half.

The two squads came out and traded baskets for the first ten minutes of the second period, as the Jackets remained up by 14 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Alma cut the deficit to single digits with eight minutes to go, but DC's Kim Bingley answered with a three to put Defiance up by 12. The Jackets coasted the rest of the way, as the Purple and Gold lead never fell below double digits the rest of the way.

Leading the way for Defiance was King, who had the best performance of her Yellow Jacket career. The junior shot 9-16 from the floor and an incredible 7-11 from distance to finish with a career-high 28 points. The seven three-pointers ties King with DC's all-time three-point shooter Courtney Schmersal for most three-point field goals made in a single game. Schmersal accomplished the feat twice. The seven treys give King 128 for her career, placing the junior only 15 threes away from the all-time career record of 143 held by Schmersal.

Another member of the squad who had a career night was forward Kim Bingley, who scored a career-high 14 points and added seven boards, three assists, one block and one steal. The junior was a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe.

The Jackets' inside game was dominated by senior Kim Comden, who posted a season-high 17 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks to help propel the Purple and Gold to victory. Comden narrowly missed her second double-double performance of the season.

The victory moves Defiance's record to 1-3 on the year. The Jackets are back in action on Saturday, December 1 as the Jackets travel to Terre Haute to open up Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play against Rose-Hulman. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.