DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Hanover women's basketball team traveled north taking on Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Defiance Saturday afternoon, dropping the road contest in overtime 71-67.
 
Hanover moves to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in HCAC play.
 
The Panthers were paced by freshman Katherine Benter (Brownstown, Ind.) with a double-double netting 21 points with 10 rebounds. Freshman Taylor Heath (Fairland, Ind.) added 13 points with three assists.
 
The opening half saw the Yellow Jackets claim the advantage as they used efficient shooting to capture the 16-14 lead when a sophomore Skylar Sahatjian (Prospect, Ky.) layup at the end of the quarter halted the charge and put HC on top, 18-17.
 
However, Defiance continued to swarm as they were able to reclaim the 25-19 lead midway through the second frame before using a 9-0 run to close out the half for the 34-31 halftime advantage.
 
The second half would see Hanover come alive as back-to-back blows by Benter sent HC in front 39-36. The back-and-forth battle continued with DC pushing the difference to as many as seven points.
 
But the Panthers defense played a key role down the stretch as they were able to hold Defiance scoreless for nearly five minutes cutting the deficit to 49-48 when sophomore Maddi Sears (Carmel, Ind.) hit a jumper that pushed HC back on top.
 
Hanover remained poise in the final minutes stringing together an 8-0 run, capped off by a senior Liz Tynan (Columbus, Ind.) last second buzz beater to send the contest to overtime.
 
However, the Yellow Jackets deemed to much as they were able to seal the 71-67 victory from the free throw line.
 
Hanover returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 15 when they welcome Rose-Hulman to Collier Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 PM.