The Anderson University women’s basketball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Defiance College 58-51 on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
Anderson, Franklin and Transylvania all have one loss in the HCAC standings while four-time defending champion Manchester has two losses.
Tiffany Bowsher and Kayla Martin both recorded double-doubles to lead the Ravens and Mel Hawthorne had 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Bowsher finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while Martin added 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. The trio combined for 17 of the team’s 24 field goals and 29 of its 42 rebounds.
Lauren Leisure had eight points and Mandy Seward added seven rebounds, eight assists and seven steals. Courtney Smith-Powell and Ellen Thompson chipped in with five and four points, respectively, off the bench.
Both teams shot 39 percent from the field and the Yellow Jackets had a 43-42 advantage on the boards. Defiance made only 2-of-10 free throws while AU sank 7-of-15 from the charity stripe.
Defiance had the advantage in blocks (5-4), points in the paint (34-26) and bench points (20-11). However, AU had the edge in assists (18-10), turnovers (17-21), points off turnovers (15-13) and steals (14-11).
AU (6-7, 4-1 HCAC) travels to Bluffton on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
