DEFIANCE, Ohio – Earlham College women's basketball was unable to withstand a second-half surge from Defiance College and fell to the host Yellow Jackets, 69-63, in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday evening at the Karl H. Weaner Center.

Junior guard Kayla Bowling netted 23 points for the Quakers in the loss, the most points for an Earlham player this season, and second-highest single game total of Bowling's career.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Defiance 69, Earlham 63
Location: Defiance, Ohio – Karl H. Weaner Center
Records: Earlham 4-12, 3-6 HCAC / Defiance 6-10, 5-4 HCAC

HOW IT HAPPENED

Taking a nine-point lead out of the halftime intermission, Earlham extended its lead to 13 points, 40-27, on a Bowling foul shot with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Defiance began whittling away at the Earlham lead from there, scoring on a 7-0 run lasting two-and-a-half minutes. A layup from senior Camryn White paused the Yellow Jacket run, before Defiance scored the next six points to pull within two, 42-40, with 2:12 remaining in the quarter.

A jumper from senior Maddy Krodel stretched the Earlham lead to four, but back-to-back buckets from Defiance's Lexie Sparks knotted the game at 44-44 after 30 minutes of play.

Sparks' jumper off an offensive rebound just 24 seconds into the fourth quarter gave Defiance its first lead of the game, and a 10-2 Yellow Jacket run to open the stanza left Defiance with a 56-46 lead with 6:55 remaining. Defiance held off Earlham the rest of the way, with the Quakers cutting the score to 65-61 with 48 seconds to play on a pair of Bowling free throws. Defiance went 4-for-4 at the line over the final 30 seconds to preserve the win.

Earlham stormed out to double-digit lead in the first quarter, turning a two-possession game into a 14-4 advantage at the 3:25 mark of the opening quarter after a 3-pointer from senior Camryn White followed by a Neely Trenshaw layup.

The margin reached 13 points in the Quakers' favor on a Bowling 3-pointer at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter, 26-13. A conventional three-point play from Defiance's Taylor Steinbrunner in the final seconds of the frame cut the Earlham advantage to single digits, and the Quakers held at 33-24 lead at the halftime break.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Bowling recorded her 23 points on a 7-of-13 shooting effort from the floor with four 3-pointers, coupled with a 5-for-6 ledger from the charity stripe. Trenshaw and first year Trinity McClendon came off the bench to add 12 and 11 points respectively.

McClendon paced the Quakers on the glass with five rebounds, and she also recorded four blocks.

Defiance had three players in double figures, led by Sparks with 18 points off the bench.

Earlham shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, outshooting a Defiance squad that connected on a 40.4 percent (23-of-57) clip. Defiance outrebounded Earlham, 42-29, including an 11-5 advantage on the offensive boards that translated to 15-3 advantage in second-chance points.

The Quakers again had to contend with a lop-sided foul count in favor of their opponent, with Defiance going 21-for-26 at the free-throw line on 24 Earlham fouls. The Yellow Jackets were whistled for 15 fouls, and the Quakers were 11-of-16 at the stripe.

WHAT'S NEXT

Earlham women's basketball returns home on Saturday, Jan. 25, when it hosts Franklin College in the first game of an HCAC doubleheader against the Grizzlies.