DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Hanover College, 74-66. Junior Emma Starks provided a boost off of the bench with a team-best 14 points for the Yellow Jackets.

Defiance grabbed an early advantage at the 17:14 mark in the first half with an 8-7 lead. A Hannah Harshman jumper pushed DC to the lead, but the Panthers clawed back to an eight-point lead, 23-15 with 10:40 left in the opening frame. Hanover led by as many as 13 points, 34-21, in the first half, but Starks kept the Jackets in the game with her stellar first half. The junior forward notched all 14 of her points in the period on five-of-six shooting from the floor. A late layup by Starks cut the deficit to seven points, 41-34, right before the half.

Hanover pushed their lead to 12 points, 49-37, with 15:06 left in the game before a furious Defiance rally shifted the momentum. DC used a 15-1 run over the next four minutes and 11 seconds to gain the upper hand, 52-50. The run featured seven points from sophomore Maggie Neanen. During the run, Neanen connected on a three-pointer, two foul shots and converted a fast break layup after forcing a Panther turnover.

Defiance could only get ahead by two points after taking the lead. A run by Hanover saw the Panthers take a 12-point lead, 72-64, with 2:07 remaining. DC closed the gap to eight points in the final moments.

Starks and Neanen gave the Jackets much needed energy off the bench, as the duo combined for 23 of Defiance's 40 bench points. Neanen finished with seven points, four steals and three assists. Sophomore Erica King also made an impact with eight points and two rebounds.

Junior Kim Comden and freshman Megan Zachrich added seven points for the Jackets.

Hanover, which moves to 13-3 overall and 9-1 in the HCAC, was led by 18 points from Courtney Prater.

With the loss, Defiance falls to 7-10 overall and 5-5 in league action.

The Purple and Gold with return to action on Wednesday, January 25 against conference opponent Anderson. Game-time is scheduled for 7:30 pm inside the Karl H. Weaner Center, and can be viewed live on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network at www.defianceathletics.com/video/.