Manchester Shuts Down Jackets Offense, DC Falls 61-40

DEFIANCE, Ohio – For the seventh-straight contest, the DC women's basketball team failed to grab a victory in its matchup with Manchester, as the Spartans toppled the Jackets by a final score of 61-40.

Manchester ups its season record to 2-3 (1-0 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference), while the Purple and Gold fall to 2-3 (0-1 HCAC). The defeat continues a skid of four-straight losses in home openers.

The Spartans surged ahead to a 12-2 advantage to start off action. Manchester's offense was clicking early, as it was 4-of-8 from the field, while draining a pair of three's in just over five minutes of play.

Defiance's offense could not find any sort of rhythm against the Spartan defense that was on lockdown. The Purple and Gold struggles included a 1-of-15 mark from the floor and 0-for-3 from behind the arc.

Even with the Yellow Jackets offensive woes, the home team was able to cut the deficit to 20-12 with four minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Spartans finished off the period with a little push to take a 26-14 lead heading into intermission.

In the second half, Manchester started hot just like it did to open the game. An 8-0 spurt put the Spartans ahead 34-14 three minutes in.

From that point on, the two squads began to trade buckets throughout the rest of the period. The Yellow Jackets were never able to get the deficit under 17 points.

The Spartans came away with the 61-40 win for its first victory on the road this season. They have now won seven-straight against Defiance trailing back to 2010. It was also the third-straight game Manchester has held the Purple and Gold to under 50 points.

Three players scored in double figures for DC, as freshman Kelsey Tietje (Deshler, Ohio/Patrick Henry) chalked up 11 points and eight rebounds and seniors Erica King (Wauseon, Ohio/Pettisville) and Hannah Harshman (Ohio City, Ohio/Parkway) added 10 each.

Fellow senior Kim Bingley (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) came off the bench and hauled in 10 boards for the Yellow Jackets.

MU was stifling at the defensive end, holding the Yellow Jackets to a season low 29.4 percent from the field. Another big factor in the loss for Defiance was bench scoring, as it was dominated 33-1.

Defiance will try to get back on track when it travels down to Cincinnati for its next contest on Saturday, December 7.  Its matchup will be with the Lions of Mount St. Joseph who own a record of 0-6 (0-1 HCAC). Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.