CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 2, 2005
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
(Story written by Abby Zylstra)
Calvin advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament after
defeating Franklin College, 74-60 in front of 831 fans Wednesday night at the Calvin
College Fieldhouse.
Calvin jumped to a 4-0 lead off two Lisa Winkle baskets to start the
game. Calvin would continue to increase its margin, leading 18-9, with
12 minutes left in the game. With its lead extended to 10, 21-11,
Calvin fell back on its heels as Franklin went on a 10-2 run,
narrowing the game to two points at 23-21. A pair of free throws from
senior Rita Ouwinga and jumpers from Lesa Holleman and Lisa Nanninga
put the Knights up by seven again. The teams exchanged baskets until
Franklin's Katie Douglas made a layup with two seconds left to cut the
Knight's lead down to four at the half, 32-28.
The two teams then matched baskets back and forth in the opening minutes of the second half until Franklin (23-6) took a 44-43 lead off a jumper by Lindsey Roberson.
The lead would not last long however, as Calvin regained the lead on
the next possession off a layup from Lisa Winkle. From there, Calvin
would go on an 8-2 run, extending the lead to 54-46. Franklin responded with
a 7-1 run, narrowing Calvin's lead to two, 55-53 with 7:42 left to play. Calvin senior Kristen McDonald responded by nailing two three-pointers in back to back possessions to give the Knights a 10 point lead. McDonald would follow with two free throws and a layup to give the Knights a 14 point lead and put the game away.
"We got off to a great start but then lost some of that momentum,," said head coach John Ross. "We had some nerves but we hung in there together and we finished strong. When we needed it, we stepped it up as a team. "
For the Knights, senior Kristen McDonald scored a game-high 22 points along with five assists. Sophomore Lisa Winkle was close behind with 21 points along with six rebounds and three blocks. Senior center Lisa Nanninga was also strong inside as she collected her first collegiate double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
"Everybody was working hard and getting me and Kristen open looks," said
Winkle. "It was a team effort."
"Getting the lead and not sustaining what got us the lead was our
downfall. We just ran out of steam," said Franklin's head coach Kim
Eiler. "Overall, Calvin was one of the more athletic teams we've
played. The athletism of her (Lisa Winkle) makes their team very, very
difficult to defend."
For the Grizzlies, junior Lindsey Roberson led the team with 20 points
and four rebounds. Junior Becky Ballard and junior Leslie Mehrlich
both scored 10 points and sophomore Katie Douglas led the team with six
rebounds. Sophomore Brittany Beehler had three steals and senior Stacey
Fehr had four assists.
The Knights out-rebounded Franklin, 42-27.
"I knew that was going to be a problem," said Eiler.
Calvin (23-4) finished with a 50.8 percent field goal clip and held Franklin to 37.9 percent shooting including 31.4 percent in the first half.
The Knights will travel to nationally-ranked DePauw University for a second round game on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. (EST).
"Now we have to find a way to get ourselves up for a very strong DePauw
team," said Ross.
DePauw (23-5) is currently ranked 12th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll while the Knights are ranked 22nd. Calvin and DePauw have never met in NCAA III Tournament play. Tickets for this game will be available at the doors on Saturday beginning at 1:30pm. Pricing is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, students, and children over 5.
* In the NCAA III Tournament * Calvin is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA III Tournament including its first since the 1999-2000 season. Calvin is 9-8 in NCAA III Tournament play and has reached the "Sweet 16" round of the national tournament twice * achieving the feat in 1999 and 2000.
* In the First Round * Calvin is now 6-1 in first round NCAA III Tournament games including 5-0 at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
* Moving up the Charts * Kristen McDonald now has 1,125 career points and is currently in seventh place on the all-time Calvin scoring list.
ICE HOCKEY
(Editors Note: In last night's tournament preview, Clay Verkaik was listed as a junior. Verkaik is a freshman. In addition, junior Dan Veeneman was inadvertently omitted and like Verkaik, is also a local product of Grand Rapids Christian High School).
Calvin opened competition at the ACHA Division III National Tournament with a 5-4 first round shootout loss to Penn-State University at Delaware County Thursday morning. The loss eliminates Calvin from national championship contention as the Knights are relegated to the loser's bracket.
Calvin outshot PSU-Delaware County 50-33 but could only muster three goals in regulation time. The Knights (24-4) led 1-0 after one period on a goal by junior Nick VerKuyl (Whitby, ON) but PSU-Delaware County came back to tie the game with an early goal in the second period.
The Knights then answered with two goals midway through the second period but PSU-Delaware slipped in a goal shortly before the end of the period to trail just 3-2 heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation time.
PSU-Delaware would then tie the game on a goal midway through the third period, eventually forcing overtime.
The two teams played through a scoreless five-minute overtime session with Calvin holding a 7-2 shots on goal advantage. The scoreless overtime session forced a shootout situation with each team selecting five shooters.
Both teams would slip in one goal through the first round of five with VerKuyl picking up Calvin's lone tally.
Two more shooters from each team were then selected and PSU-Delaware was able to slip in one of its two shot attempts while Calvin was shut out.
In addition to the two goals from VerKuyl, Calvin received goals in Thursday's match from sophomore Bryan Bandstra (Vancouver, BC) and freshman Emery Lovse (Grand Rapids Christian HS). Junior Dan DeKorne (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was also credited with two assists while senior Aaron Okkema (Ancaster, ON), junior Nate Heuker (South Christian HS) and junior Max Sieplinga (Grand Rapids Christian HS) picked up one assist apiece.
Calvin returns to action on Thursday morning when it faces the University of Richmond at 9:00 a.m.
The tournament is being held at the Blade Runners Ice Complex in Pittsburgh.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Mar 2 22:20:41 2005
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