Lexington, KY – Senior guard Katelyn Smith produced a game-high 21 points to lead the Transylvania women's basketball team to an 84-63 victory over the Defiance Yellow Jackets in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Beck Center.
Freshman forward Kristen Hayes supplied the Transylvania Pioneers with 18 points, including two 3-pointers as part of an 11-for-26 team showing from beyond the arc.
The duo of Hayes and Smith, who now stand third and fourth respectively in the HCAC in scoring average, combined for 46 percent of Transylvania's scoring in the win.
The win was the Pioneers' fifth in their last seven games, who improved to 8-5 overall, and 4-2 in HCAC play and drew even with Rose-Hulman for third place in the HCAC after three weeks of conference action. Transylvania stands two games back of Bluffton for first place in the HCAC.
The game featured three point excellence and defensive lockdowns by the Pioneers, who held the Yellow Jackets to 13, 14, and 15 points in the first, second, and third quarters respectively.
The Pioneers set the tone for the game with a stellar opening first quarter, outscoring the visitors 30-13 over the first ten minutes. Transylvania's key scoring options both reached double-digit figures in the first quarter as Smith scored 12 and Hayes followed with 11.
Transylvania rudely greeted Defiance with a 4-for-10 opening quarter from distance and won the turnover margin by four to build their double-digit cushion and never look back. Hayes scored seven straight points for the Pioneers midway through the first quarter, and Katelyn Smith drained a 3-pointer to craft a 21-7 Transy lead.
Senior guard Shawn Kolani joined in on the long-distance affair, following Smith's salvo with a 3-ball of her own to grow the Transylvania advantage to 17.
After going scoreless in the first half, starting Sophomore forward Rachel Cox turned on the ignition after halftime, scoring nine points in the third quarter on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor, which included her only 3-point attempt and splash of the night.
After winning the first three quarters, Transylvania examined a 68-42 lead and cruised to the 21-point victory.
Kolani led the Pioneers with six assists, while Carlee Clemons made her mark with a game-high five steals. Transylvania shot 46.9 percent from the field for the day, while holding Defiance to 39.4 percent shooting from the floor.
Transy's sizable margin could be illustrated one way through the 3-point shooting discrepancy: the home team shot 42.3 percent on triples while Defiance mustered 6-for-28 shooting from outside the circle (21.4 percent).
Four different players scored in double figures for Transylvania, including senior guard Shawn Kolani who had 11, and Cox who scored all 12 of her points in the second half.
Transylvania aspires to lengthen its winning streak to three games when they host Franklin at midweek for a chance to move into a tie for second place in the HCAC. Tipoff between Franklin and the Pioneers is set for 7:30 PM at the Beck Center on Wednesday.