Women’s Basketball Clinches HCAC Tournament Berth, Fights Past Lions on Senior Day

The Anderson University women's basketball team fought past Mount St. Joseph University with a 53-49 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) victory on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium to clinch its first HCAC Tournament berth since the 2009-10 season.

"All of our hard work and perseverance has led us to be in a position to make the tournament," Carly Hackler said. "We are EXCITED because AUWBB hasn't made it to the tourney in a very long time. Coach Shade and the fans who have been with us come to mind when I think about the tournament because I know they want it as bad as we do! I am looking forward to continually building on what we have & shaking things up when we get into tournament play."

On Saturday, the Ravens also recognized Hackler, Audrey May and Luke Martin for Senior Day.

"[Saturday] was an incredible day for our program and especially our seniors, Carly, Audrey, and Luke," Coach Lindsay Shade said. "Two years ago we did not win a game, and any of the three would have been justified in quitting the team. But they persevered and I am thrilled that they get to experience post-season play. I am thrilled for our and especially happy for our seniors."

"Celebrating Senior Day was great, especially because we got a big win," Hackler added. "Going into the game, I knew this wasn't going to be the end for our season because of the confidence I had in us to steal this win from Mount St. Joseph. I was thinking about how much we deserve to get in the tournament, especially the three of us who had been through the thick of it. I knew we needed to push through to get the W, and that's all I was thinking about!"

The Ravens (11-14, 7-11) converted 20-of-49 (40.8 percent) shots from the field and 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) attempts from 3-point range. Mount St. Joseph (7-18, 6-12) made 17-of-53 (32.1 percent) attempts from the floor and 6-of-20 (30 percent) shots from the perimeter.

Lexi Dellinger led the Ravens with 23 points. The 5-foot-5 sophomore guard from Berne knocked down 5-of-10 (50 percent) shots from behind the arc. Late in the fourth quarter, Mount St. Joseph cut Anderson's lead to two, but Dellinger scored five points on the next two possessions to give Anderson a 51-44 lead with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the game.

Payton Moore recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Ravens.

"I cannot say enough about Payton and Lexi," Shade acknowledged. "Every team comes in focusing their defense around them and they still find ways to make plays. They didn't have an answer for Payton and every time they made a run, it seems like Lexi responded with a huge shot down the stretch."

Jade Shipley contributed eight points. Hanna Ault and Kristin Dubois rounded out Anderson's scoring effort with two points each. Hackler also dished out five assists.

"Our performance reflected how focused and intentional we've been in practice with scout and executing offense," Hackler stated. "We did a great job of adapting to the changes Mount St. Joseph threw at us on the fly, and this game was an excellent opportunity to flex some of the things we've been working on."

Maddie Haberthy scored 17 points for Mount St. Joseph. Haberthy came into the game ranked second in the HCAC in scoring and was held scoreless in the first half.

Chloe Jansen scored a team-high 21 points. Haberthy collected four steals and Aliyah Huff pulled down eight rebounds.

"This was a great team effort and I thought we made things really difficult for Mount St. Joseph offensively," Shade said. "Haberthy is a prolific scorer and Hanna Ault played outstanding defense on her. She scored 17 points, but she had to work for it."

The fourth-seeded Ravens clash with fifth-seeded Bluffton University (13-12, 7-11) in the Opening Round of the HCAC Tournament on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.