The Lady Tigers played with a lot of heart and effort in their matchup Friday night against #1 seeded Hillsdale, but it wasn’t quite enough to come away with a victory.  The Tigers jumped out to a hot start, building an early 10 point lead on the strength of hot shooting from Stephanie Miller.  Hillsdale upped their pressure and the Tigers went several minutes without a field goal and went into the half with an 11 point deficit, 35-24.

Adding to the Tiger woes was the foul status of All-American Jessica Sikorski.  Jessica was whistled for her fourth foul early in the second half and fouled out with nine minutes left in the game and the Tigers behind by eight.  Most people in the gym assumed the game was over at the point, but someone forgot to tell the other six girls wearing Grace Tiger uniforms, because they weren’t buying it.  In fact, the Tigers rallied and had a three point shot go half-way down and rattle out that would have brought the margin to a single point with a minute to go.  Hillsdale closed out the game with free throws when the Tigers were forced to foul to bring the final margin to eight points.

Stephanie Miller paced the Tiger attack with 15 points.  Jessica Sikorski had 14 and Kerie Rudd added 12.  Marissa Pelletier led the rebounders with nine, followed by Jessica with eight.

The Lady Tigers will take on Central Christian College on Saturday in the ACCA Nationals to determine third place.