Hillsdale 66, Davenport 61 (Dec. 28)
The Davenport women’s basketball team made a run in the second half at Hillsdale on Thursday, but it fell short in a 66-61 loss to the Chargers in non-conference action. The Panthers outscored the Chargers, 34-23, in the second half but found themselves down 24-10 in the first quarter and 43-27 at halftime.
Freshman Isabel Lindo led the team with 15 points and connected on a season-high three triples in eight tries. Lindo also had four rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 29-plus minutes. Also in double figures was Ellie Toney with 11 points going 5-of-12 from the floor. Toney also led the team with seven rebounds. Lillee Gustafson was neutralized by the Chargers as she scored in single digits for just the second time this season with nine points. She also had six rebounds and two steals.
Davenport finished 34.3 percent from the floor and were 5-of-17 behind the arc. Hillsdale finished with 40.4 percent shooting and connected on 16-of-22 at the free throw line. The Chargers came out hot in that first quarter shooting 9-of-12 from the floor including 5-of-8 behind the arc. Hillsdale would make just three triples in the final three quarters.
Ashland 99, Davenport 75 (Dec. 30)
The Davenport women’s basketball team welcomed No. 2 and defending national champion Ashland to the DU Student Center on Saturday afternoon in the final game of 2023. The Panthers scored a season-high 75 points but allowed a season-high 99 points in the loss. The Eagles were allowed to score too many easy baskets in the paint and transition which provided the winning margin. Ashland scored 56 points in the paint and 33 points on the fast break.
The Eagles led 18-17 at the end of the first quarter and Davenport had their largest lead of the game at 15-9 with 2:58 left in the opening quarter. Davenport shot 7-of-13 from the floor including 3-of-5 from the arc in the first quarter. The second quarter belonged to the Eagles 27-17 to take a 45-34 lead into the locker room. Leading 23-22 at the 7:17 mark, the Panthers saw Ashland run off 12 straight points to take a 34-23 lead with 3:05 until halftime.
The third quarter is where the Eagles put things out of reach. They scored 32 points in the quarter compared to 18 for the Panthers. The 25-point lead heading into the fourth quarter was too much for the Panthers to overcome. They did outscore the Eagles 23-22 in the fourth quarter and shot 7-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the arc.
Davenport finished the game 25-of-52 from the floor and 11-of-22 from the arc. It was their best long-range shooting day of the season with the previous high of 38.9 percent coming against Walsh. Alexa Kolnitys connected on 4-of-6 from deep and scored 12 points. Isabel Lindo led the team with 15 points and went 3-of-6 from the arc. Lillee Gustafson scored 12 points and also had five rebounds and two steals. Makenna Bryant scored 11 points off the bench shooting 4-of-7 from the floor.
