DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College women's basketball team made a defensive statement on Tuesday evening, as the Yellow Jackets thrashed rival Bluffton University in a 54-32 win. With Transylvania falling to Franklin on the evening, DC now sits alone atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings as the only remaining unbeaten team.
The Beavers scored the game's first points with a three-pointer from Taylor Whitaker just 30 seconds into the contest. Then the Purple and Gold dominated the game and went on a 26-2 run over the next 15 minutes of action to blow the game wide open at 26-5. The Jackets finished the half by scoring eight of the last 12 points to take a decisive 34-9 lead into the halftime break.
DC's Kim Comden controlled the first half for the Jackets, as the senior nearly recorded a double-double in the with 12 points and nine rebounds. The center was a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe.
The Jackets' were superb defensively in the first, as Defiance held Bluffton to just nine points on 18.2 percent shooting. The nine points is the fewest the Purple and Gold gave up in any half this season. Defiance also dictated the glass the entire first half. The Jackets grabbed 28 boards, with 14 coming on the offensive end and 14 on the defensive side, compared to Bluffton's 10 total rebounds.
DC continued to dictate the action in the second, as the Yellow Jackets never let the lead slip below 17 points the rest of the way and won by a final score of 54-32.
The aforementioned Comden finished with a monster stat line, as the center recorded her second-consecutive double-double and fourth of the season. The senior finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks, three assists, and no turnovers. The six blocks ties the Ayersville product's career high.
Defiance tallied a season-high eight blocked shots on the evening and held the Beavers to only 32 points on 13 field goals, the lowest amounts of any opponent this season. The team recorded its second-best performance of the season in a number of categories, including assists with 17 and rebounds with 48.
With the win, the Jackets remain unbeaten in the conference at 5-0 and improve its season record to 8-4. The Purple and Gold travel to Transylvania for a huge HCAC showdown in Lexington on Saturday. The Jackets enter the contest in first place in the standings, while the Pioneers are just one game back of DC in second place. The game is set to start at 3:00 p.m.