CSR (Calvin Women's Basketball Team Tops Puget Sound in Meeting of Nationally-Ranked Teams)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 28, 2006

Women's Basketball Drops Puget Sound In Meeting of Nationally-Ranked Teams

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 70, U. of Puget Sound 62

THOUSAND OAKS, CA -- In a meeting of nationally-ranked teams, Calvin came out
on top, defeating the University of Puget Sound (WA) 70-62 in a first round
game of the sixth annual Posoda Royale Tournament hosted by Cal-Lutheran
University.

Calvin (7-1) came into the contest ranked 15th nationally while Puget Sound
(7-3) came in ranked 23rd.

Calvin used strong defense and clutch three-point shooting in the second half
to claim the win.

The opening 10 minutes belonged to Puget Sound as the Loggers jumped out to a
23-14 lead. Calvin responded with an 18-6 scoring run capped off by a
three-pointer by sophomore Kristi Brummel (South Christian HS) to take a 32-29
lead. Puget Sound scored the final two field goals of the first half however to
take a 33-32 halftime lead.

Calvin then used back-to-back triples by junior Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse City
West HS) and Brummel in the second half to take a 47-39 lead. Senior center
Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS) then connected on a jumper in the lane to give
the Knights a 10-point lead at 53-43 with 9:10 left to play.

Calvin continued to respond with clutch play down the stretch as junior Rachael
Willett (Rockford HS) hit a layup inside after the Loggers had closed to within
five with six minutes left. The gap was five again moments later when Brummel
drilled her fourth triple of the evening to give the Knights a 62-54 advantage
at the 4:22 mark. A pair of free throws by Puget Sound's Shelby Ramirez cut the
Calvin lead down to four at 66-62 with 53 seconds remaining but Calvin
sophomore forward Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids Christian HS) answered with four
free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the game.

"I thought our defense got us back into the game after we fell behind in the
first half," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "In the second
half, they (Puget Sound) went to a 2-3 zone on us and we responded by hitting
some clutch three-point shots. It was a total team effort and it feels very
good to beat a nationally-ranked team like Puget Sound. They (Puget Sound) are
very talented and they made us work very hard for this victory."

Calvin was led in scoring by Winkle who had 18 points along with six rebounds,
four assists, four blocked shots and four steals. Harris was next with 16
points and six rebounds while Brummel had 14 points off the bench including a
4-for-6 showing from three-point range. Willett also had six rebounds while
junior Lindsey Peuler (Grandville HS), Zimmerman and sophomore Kelly Trewhella
(Rockford HS) had six points apiece.

Puget Sound was led by Ramirez who tallied 14 points and nine rebounds while
Laura Hirsh had 10 points. The Loggers shot 7-for-11 from three-point range in
the first half but just 2-for-12 in the second half for an overall three-point
clip of 39.1 percent. Overall, Puget Sound shot just 36.4 percent from the
field including just 34.5 percent in the second half.

Calvin shot 44.8 percent overall including 48 percent in the second half. The
Knights also connected on 8-of-21 (.381) from three-point range and hit
10-of-14 (.714) at the free throw line. Calvin also chalked up 18 assists
against 15 turnovers on the evening with Zimmerman finishing with a game-high
five assists while Peuler also had four dimes.

Both teams finished with 36 rebounds. "Puget Sound really hit the boards hard
on us," said Ross. "I thought we did a good job of battling for rebounds."

Calvin will now prepare to face host Cal-Lutheran University in a second round
game tomorrow (6:00 p.m, EST). Albion of the MIAA defeated Cal-Lutheran 73-48
in a first round game earlier Thursday afternoon.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Dec 28 23:35:50 2006