DEFIANCE, Ohio - January 23, 2022 – Down by eight with just under three minutes to play in the third, Hiram women's basketball battled back to defeat the Defiance College Yellow Jackets, 70-69, on Madison Branch's game-winner on Sunday at the Wearner Community Center.
 
In a game that featured eight ties and six lead changes, the Terriers got off to a hot start, opening the first quarter with an 8-0 run. Cici Bright knocked down the first bucket of the game for the Terriers, and Maddie Rakestraw added a three to bring Hiram's lead out to 5-0 with 8:04 to play in the third.
 
A triple from Haley Thompson made it 8-0, before the Yellow Jackets slowed the Terriers' run, cutting Hiram's lead to 8-4 with 4:43 left in the period. However, Hiram quickly answered, as a three by Iyana Smith made it a seven-point lead, kick-starting a 13-2 run to give Hiram a 21-6 lead.
 
Taylor Steinbrunner made it a 12-point game with her three-pointer with 13 seconds left in the quarter, but the Terriers headed into the second frame with a 21-9 lead.
 
A layup by Bright, and jumpers by Madison Branch and Thompson quickly made it an 18-point lead, 27-9, Hiram's largest lead of the game, before the Yellow Jackets roared back.
 
An 18-2 run by the Yellow Jackets, capped off by Kylie Brinkman's three, cut Hiram's lead to just two, 29-27, with just over four minutes left in the first half. Thompson answered with a jumper to bring the Terriers' lead back out to two possessions, but another three, this time by McKenzie Cooper, made it a one-point Hiram lead heading down the final stretch of the first half.
 
Following a two-minute scoreless stretch, Cait Good tied the game for the Yellow Jackets, going 1-for-2 at the line, evening the score at 31-all. Bright then sunk another layup, one of 13 first-half points for the senior, to give Hiram a two-point lead, but Steinbrunner found the bottom of the net with a driving layup, sending the two sides into the locker room all tied up at 33.
 
Bright led all scorers with 13 at the half, adding a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Bright then kicked off a back-and-forth start to the third, scoring her 15th points of the game with her layup 17 seconds into the third. The two sides traded buckets for four minutes until Brinkman made it a five-point Defiance lead with her three-pointer with 4:56 left in the third.
 
Taylor Valaitis answered with a three of her own, but with a 6-0 run, the Yellow Jackets built their largest lead of the game, 50-42, with just under three minutes remaining in the period.
 
However, the Terriers had an answer, pulling within four on layups by Selena Vargas and Bright, before two free throws by Branch made it a two-point lead, 52-50, with 48 seconds left in the third.
 
Branch then beat the buzzer with her driving layup, sending the Terriers and Yellow Jackets to the fourth, all knotted up at 52.
 
The Terriers' senior guard then gave Hiram its first lead since the start of the third quarter, 55-52, with a pull-up three-pointer just six seconds into the final frame.
 
Down by three though, the Yellow Jackets wouldn't go away quietly, and Defiance answered with an 8-0 run to take a 60-55 lead.
 
Thompson pulled Hiram within three with 6:22 to play, but Lauren Criblez scored off a Defiance offensive rebound to bring the Yellow Jackets' lead back out to five.
 
Hiram cut Defiance's lead to two on Bright's three-pointer, and again on Branch's driving layup with 4:05 left, but Steinbrunner answered to make it a four-point game.
 
Down 66-62, Thompson knocked down a jumper to make it a two-point lead, and after the Yellow Jackets couldn't convert on the other end, Claire Fraizer evened the game at 66-all, before Branch made it a 68-66 Hiram lead with under two minutes to play.
 
A Hiram foul put Steinbrunner at the line, where she went 1-for-2, but after the Terriers twice turned it over on offense, a pair of made foul shots by Defiance made it a 69-68 Yellow Jacket lead with 28 seconds left.
 
Another turnover forced Hiram to foul, but after Lexie Sparks missed both free throw attempts, Bright corralled the rebound and got it to Branch, whose pull-up jumper gave the Terriers a 70-69 victory.
 
With the win, Hiram moves to 4-11 and snaps a seven-game losing streak, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 8-6 with the loss.
 
Branch and Bright each led the Terriers with 20 points, with Branch corralling 12 rebounds for her first career double-double. Thompson joined the duo in double figures with 11 points, while Branch also added a team-high eight assists.
 
Branch scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half, including nine in the final period.
 
As a team, the Terriers shot a season-high 50 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three, while holding the Yellow Jackets to 38.4 percent shooting and just 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Hiram next opens a three-game homestand, hosting the Allegheny College Gators on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. inside Price Gymnasium.