CALVIN SPORTS REPORT (Part One) for February 26, 2005
(Written by Annalise Venhuizen '08)
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Calvin College Knights defeated the Albion Britons Saturday afternoon in the MIAA Conference Tournament Championship game, held at Albion's Kresge Gymnasium. Thd victory gives Calvin an automatic bid to NCAA Divison III National play¯its first trip to the Nationals since 2000 and the 9th in school history. The MIAA Tournament crown is also the fourth for Calvin and its first since 2000.
Led by head coach John Ross, Calvin is now 3-0 over Albion on the season, winning the first meeting 74-60 on Jan 19 at Albion, and also the second meeting 49-45 on Feb.16 at Calvin. However, a year ago, Albion defeated Calvin in the final game of the MIAA Tournament, held at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
Feeding off her momentum from her 40-point game on Thursday, senior Kristen McDonald (Grand Rapids/West Catholic) started off the scoring with a made jumper. Senior Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) scored, then McDonald sunk a three-pointer, all before Albion got on the scoreboard.
A lay-up by freshman Charis Larson (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) at 12:30 gave the Knights a 10 point lead, 15-5. The Britons then outscored Calvin 5-2, bringing themselves within five, with Calvin leading 17-12. However, Albion would not get within five for the remainder of the game.
Calvin (22-4) led by 13 points with just over 2:00 left in the half, off another three-pointer by McDonald. The half ended with Calvin up 31-21.
Albion senior Sarah Caskey made a jumper to start off the second half, but with another three by McDonald, Calvin soon extended their lead to 16 at 13:44 when the score was 43-27.
However, Albion (24-4) showed its heart by reeling off a 10-0 run with 8:11 left, making the score 43-37. However, two jumpers by sophomore Lisa Winkle (Grand Rapids/South Christian), one by senior sister Sarah Winkle, and another by Larson brought the Knights back to a 14 point lead, 51-37.
Calvin then traded baskets with Albion down the stretch to hold on for the double-digit win.
"This is something we've been working and waiting for all year," said Ross. "For me, it's been a 365-day quest. We've been working hard the entire off-season and we were determined to get to this point. It feels very good to have reached this goal."
Saturday's game was another record-breaking one for McDonald, who had 19 points and 11 assists. McDonald is now in first place on the Calvin career list for assists with 358, passing 1991 graduate Sarah Ondersma (355 assists) with her performance on Saturday. McDonald's assist total of 11 on Saturday was also a new MIAA Tournament single-game record * her second tournament record in as many games as she also fired in a tournament record 40 points in a semifinal win over Hope Thursday night. in Calvin Women's Basketball.
For the Britons, Caskey led scoring with 14 points and added 7 rebounds. Senior Vanessa Thompson followed with 8 points, and junior Jaime Fornetti with 7. Sophomore Ruth Sventickas had 9 rebounds.
For Calvin, Lisa Winkle had 23 points and 12 rebounds, her 11th double-double of her collegiate career. McDonald contributed 19 points, including 5 of 9 three-pointers, and 11 assists. Sarah Winkle had 6 points and 8 rebounds.
Calvin will now head into NCAA Div. III National Championship play and will await the NCAA III Tournament pairings scheduled to be announced Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. (EST).
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Feb 26 18:10:27 2005
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