Lady Jackets Earn First Win

The Lady Jackets earned their first win of the season at home against Cincinnati Christian (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Jamie Dodane works the ball past a Cincinnati Christian defender (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Baylee Bennett drives to the basket for a layup (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Anna DeFilippo prepares to dribble past a Cincinnati Christian defender (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Taylor Buckley sinks a free throw (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Taylor Buckley drives to the basket (Photo: Christian Cortes).

Regina Hochstetler looks for an open teammate to pass the ball to (Photo: Christian Cortes).

First-year head coach Kari Hoffman earned her first collegiate coaching win as the Cedarville Yellow Jackets defeated Cincinnati Christian, 82-61.

Coach Hoffman was pleased with the effort and sees the team improving.

“I’m excited that we got our first win,” head coach Kari Hoffman said. “I feel like our team is taking a step in the right direction.”

Junior guard Regina Hochstetler scored 23 points to lead the Jackets. Sophomore guard Baylee Bennett, a transfer from Cincinnati Christian, scored 20.

The game was ugly, as a combined 59 fouls were called throughout the game. Cincinnati Christian shot 41 free throws in the entire game, but only converted 26.

Cedarville jumped on top of Cincinnati Christian from the start, as they took an 11-point lead with 5:10 left in the first quarter. Bennett’s four threes in the quarter propelled the Jackets to a 22-10 lead at the end of the first.

As Cincinnati Christian tried everything they could to chip away at the Jacket lead, one of their impact players suffered an apparent shoulder injury with 5:53 left in the second quarter and did not return to the game.

Cedarville extended its lead to 14 late in the second quarter with back-to-back triples by Baylee Bennett. Bennett scored 18 in the first half.

The Jackets took a commanding 44-30 lead into the half, scoring 22 points in each of the first two quarters.

Cedarville scored the first seven points of the second half, and Hochstetler’s hot second half began with a triple which extended the Jacket lead to 21.

By the end of the third quarter, a combined five players were playing with four fouls. As some reserves came off the bench for the Jackets, Cedarville’s lead was sustained. They led by 20 at the end of the third, and won the game by 19.

The Jackets (1-3) will host the Central State Marauders (2-1) on Tuesday night at 5:30. The Jackets last played Central State in 2015, winning both games they played against the Marauders.

Tim Miller is a freshman journalism student at Cedarville University. Tim loves anything that has to do with sports, and hopes to write about sports for a career after graduating from Cedarville.