CSR (McDonald Breaks Calvin 3-PT FG Record in Win at St. Mary's)

CSR for JANUARY 6, 2005 * WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Written by Jeff Febus and Annalise Venhuizen

        
In a MIAA conference game at St. Mary's College in Indiana, the Knights of Calvin College powered to their 8th straight victory. The Knights are now 10-2 on the season and 4-1 in the MIAA.

Senior point guard Kristen McDonald (West Catholic HS) highlighted the Calvin victory as she became the all-time Calvin leader in three-point field goals as she was two-of-four from beyond the arc, boosting her career total to 153 triples, one better than 1995 graduate Cheryl Essenburg who established the previous record of 152 between 1991-to-1995. Essenburg is currently a part-time professor in the Calvin Geology Department.

McDonald finished Thursday's game against St. Mary's with a game-high 21 points along with four assists.

McDonald also holds the record for three-point field goals scored in a season. She set that record last season, with 68 three-pointers.

It's been a week for the Calvin history books for McDonald as she posted the third-highest single-game assist total in Calvin women's basketball history in an 84-73 victory over Tri-State Tuesday night with 12 assists.
        
In the win over St. Mary's, the host Belles (6-7 overall, 1-3 MIAA) scored first, getting two off a jumper by senior Maureen Bush. McDonald matched the effort with two free-throws. A three-pointer by McDonald made the score 4-5, putting the Knights in the lead. Two back-to-back lay-ups by St. Mary's senior Emily Creachbaum helped the Belle's tie up the game at 9. But the Knights steadily pulled away, and would hold the lead for the rest of the game.
        
Calvin's largest lead in the first half came by the way of a three-point shot by freshman guard Wendy Zigterman (Timothy Christian, IL). With it, the Knights led 24-15. The first half ended with Calvin leading, 24-17.

Only 7:15 into the second half, the Knights extended their lead to 15 points, 44-29. The Belles would get no closer than 10 points to the Knights. The game ended with St. Mary's 11 points down, with Calvin winning 56-45.

For the Belles, Bush was the high scorer with 11 points and Creachbaum followed with 8.

For Calvin, sophomore Lisa Winkle (South Christian) contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

With the win, Calvin remains tied for second place in the MIAA standings with Hope as both teams are 4-1 in league play, one game behind league-leading Albion.

Calvin returns to action Saturday night when it hosts Kalamazoo at 7:30 p.m. The game will be aired via RealAudio broadcast through the Calvin web site at: www.Calvin.edu/sports.

CALVIN CAREER THREE POINT FIELD GOAL LEADERS THROUGH 1-6-05

Kristin McDonald 153 three-pointers (2001-present)
Cheryl Essenburg 152 (1991-1995)
Leanne Bajema 91 (1991-1993)
Cara Mulder 83 (1993-1996)
Mindi Andringa 81 (1996-2000)

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-6-05

Albion 5-0
Calvin 4-1
Hope 4-1
Kalamazoo 2-2
Tri-State 1-2
St. Mary's 1-3
Olivet 1-3
Adrian 1-4
Alma 0-3

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Jan 6 22:50:42 2005