LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Erica King broke Defiance College's all-time record for three pointers made in a career on Saturday afternoon against Transylvania. The guard made three treys to move her total to 144, passing the previous record holder Courtney Schmersal. Unfortunately for the Jackets, DC fell to the Pioneers by a score of 65-53, the team's first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season.
In the opening minutes, the Jackets and Pioneers came out and exchanged buckets for the first eight minutes, as DC's Rachel Ciminillo hit a three to knot the score at 12-12 with 12 minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Transylvania then went on an 8-1 spurt over the next four minutes to grab a 20-13 advantage with eight minutes left in the half. The Jackets answered by clawing their way back in the remaining eight minutes and leveled the score again at 28-28 with just under a minute left, thanks to a three-point basket from King. The Pioneers scored four of the last six points to take a 32-30 advantage into the half.
Ciminillo led the Purple and Gold in scoring at the half with eight points on 3-5 shooting from the field. Kim Comden and Megan Zachrich each chipped in seven points in the first stanza.
Transylvania came out determined to put an end to Defiance's perfect HCAC record in the second half and scored 14 of the first 19 points in the final frame to grab the first double-digit lead of the game at 46-35 with 13:33 left in the contest.
Like the first half, the Yellow Jackets again showed its resilience and fought their way back into the game, cutting the Pioneer lead to four points at 54-50 over a seven minute span. Transylvania then pushed the lead back to double digits at 60-50 with two minutes remaining before King's record breaking three cut the lead to seven with 1:14 left on the clock. From that point, the Jackets had to resort to fouling and the Pioneers closed out the contest converting on 5-6 free throw attempts to seal the 65-53 victory.
Zachrich was the Jackets' best performer on the afternoon, as the guard recorded her first-career double-double performance with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Comden was the only other member of the Purple and Gold in double figures with 11 points. The senior has now scored 10 or more points in 11-of-13 games this season.
The loss is Defiance's first conference loss of the season, moving the program's HCAC record to 5-1 and the season mark to 8-5 on the campaign.
The Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, January 9, as Defiance travels to Manchester to face the Spartans in a HCAC contest. The game is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.