CSR (Women's Basketball Wraps Up Undefeated MIAA Season)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH 2006

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 59, Alma 53

ALMA- The Calvin women’s basketball team completed an undefeated MIAA season by defeating Alma College 59-53 Saturday afternoon for the Knights 20th straight victory. Calvin (23-1 overall) became only the second team ever to finish 16-0 in the MIAA as it managed the feat just one year after Hope College first achieved it.

The nationally ranked Knights had to battle all day against a tough Alma team that was looking for a major upset. Calvin head coach John Ross knew the Scots (10-13, 6-10 MIAA) would be a formidable opponent.

“It is tough to go n the road in this league no matter who you are playing,” he said. “Alma has a talented team; a lot of teams in our league could beat a top-25 school regularly, that’s how well-rounded it is. I’m glad we were able to get the road victory.”

Calvin committed 13 turnovers in the first half as a season-long problem continued to haunt the Knights. Alma was able to play even with the Knights until sophomore Marcia Harris (GR Christian) scored Calvin’s final five points of the half to give them a 29-24 advantage at the break.

Calvin began the second half with a 6-2 run and then increased its lead to 13 at 43-30 when freshman Allison Griswold (Lansing Christian) nailed a three-pointer. That, however, would be the Knights largest lead and the Scots would get as close as three-points down as they put constant pressure Calvin. Free-throws, which hurt Calvin in their slim victory Wednesday night over Olivet, became the difference as the Knights converted 15-20 from the charity stripe for a 75 percent average. Sophomore Kristi Brummel (GR South Christian) canned two free-throws in the final seconds to put the game away for good.

Ross admitted to needing improvement throughout his team. “Our focus has to get a lot better with the conference tournament starting next week,” he said. “I think we have another level that we can go to. One way to look at this is that the best teams are the ones that get hot at the end of the season, during the tournament. Hopefully that can be us.”

Calvin was led in the victory by senior Lisa Winkle (GR South Christian), who collected her 43rd collegiate double-double by scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Harris was the leading scorer for Calvin as she collected 16 points. Junior Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse City) chipped in nine points.

Calvin shot 46.5 percent from the field for the game and held Alma to 44 percent from the field. The Knights finished with 25 turnovers for the game.

Calvin will play again on Tuesday evening at home in the first-round of the MIAA Tournament. The Knights will face the winner of a play-in game between Adrian and Kalamazoo which will take place on Monday.

MIAA Tournament First Round Action (All games at 7:30 pm EST)

Monday, February 19
Kalamazoo at Adrian Play-in game

Tuesday, February 20
Play-in game winner at Calvin
Alma at St. Mary’s
Tri-State at Hope
Olivet at Albion

MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FINAL STANDINGS

Calvin 16-0
Hope 13-3
St. Mary’s 10-6
Albion 9-7
Olivet 9-7
Alma 6-10
Tri-State 4-12
Adrian 3-13
Kalamazoo 2-14

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 72, Kalamazoo 67

KALAMAZOO - The Knights escaped from Kalamazoo this afternoon with a hard fought 72-67 victory over the Hornets. The win leaves Calvin in sole ownership of second place in the MIAA conference.

"Give my guys credit," Coach Kevin VandeStreek said. "I thought we did a nice job being tough out there and finding a way to gut it out and get a win."

The Knights, coming off a loss to Albion last Wednesday, came out right away with fire connecting on their first two shots while grabbing a 5-0 lead. But it was short lived as Calvin watched the Hornets go on a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes. Down 17-7, senior Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran) decided to take over by scoring six straight of his own brining his team within four points.

With three minutes to go in the half, Calvin found itself with another five point lead but Kalamazoo once again was able to counter-attack with six unanswered points to grab a one point lead with seven seconds left. But after sending Dustin Smith (Hamilton/Hamilton) to the line, the score was all knotted up at 36 at halftime.

Opening up the second half, Calvin's shooting woes continued while Kalamazoo took a six point early lead. The Knights were able to fight back and most of the second half featured each ball club trading baskets. Calvin took its first lead of the second half halfway through and eventually went up three after a huge triple by Derek Griffin (Whitehall/Muskegon CC).

Towards the end of the game and their team in need of some points, seniors Eric DeVries (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) and Meckes got the job done. DeVries hit some key free throws down the stretch while Meckes scored a quick five points in the span of a minute with under three minutes remaining in the game. Tyler Zoerhof (Holland/Holland Christian) then sealed the victory by hitting a pair of free throws with 14 ticks left on the clock which led to the 72-67 win.

Griffin and Meckes were high scorers for the Knights with 18 apiece while Pat Clancy for the Hornets led all scorers with 21 points.

VandeStreek was especially pleased with the play he received from both Meckes and DeVries. "Bear [Eric DeVries] played really well. He's been one of our program guys who hasn't gotten a lot of playing time up until this year but started every conference game for us this season. I'm proud of his great work ethic and demeanor."

VandeStreek had similar praises for Meckes. "Josh is one of those guys who does so many things to impact a game. He was able to get a lot of easy baskets when they were hard to come by." The different things VandeStreek was referring to was atop of Meckes' 18 points, he also grabbed nine rebounds and came up with five steals.

Although Calvin came out with the win, its shooting performance was not one of its best. The Knights shot 35.9 percent and were only 4 of 23 from behind the arc. "We just weren't finding it tonight from the field and especially from behind the arc," said VandeStreek. "Hopefully that'll be the last we see of that as we head into the tournament next week."

Calvin (15-9 overall, 10-4 MIAA) will host first round MIAA Tournament action next Wednesday at the Field house for a 7:30 p.m. game. Its match-up will be either Olivet, if they lose tonight against Albion, or Kalamazoo.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Feb 17 18:05:16 2007