CSR (Women's Basketball Takes Win, Advances in NCAA Tournament)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007 (Part One)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(Written by Annalise Venhuizen ’08)

WILMINGTON, OH – In spite of injuries that left two of its leading scorers
on the bench, the Calvin women’s basketball team successfully made the first
step in the NCAA Division III Tournament, defeating Thomas More College (KY)
53-38 this evening.

The Knights knew they had to show their great depth and the ability of their
bench to fill the holes left by sophomores Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids/Grand
Rapids Christian) and Kristi Brummel (Byron Center/South Christian). “We had
a good pep talk the other day and the attitude of our team is good. Everyone
knows that they have to step up their play and do this as a team,” said
Calvin Head Coach John Ross.

Junior Rachael Willett (Rockford/Rockford), who replaced Harris in the
starting lineup, was a huge driving force in the early game, scoring two three
pointers as part of a 12-0 scoring run that put the Knights up 12-3 in the
first eight minutes of play.

Freshman Brook Van Eck (Lowell/Lowell) and sophomore Marissa Walker (Cedar
Springs/Cedar Springs) came off the bench to score a combined seven points in
the first half. Walker’s three-pointer followed a lay-up by senior Lisa
Winkle (Grand Rapids/South Christian) in the last four minutes of the half,
giving Calvin a nine-point lead, 24-15, just after Thomas More had closed the
gap to only four points.

Two free-throws by Winkle in the last minutes of the game were enough to keep
the Knights leading 26-20 at halftime.

Junior Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse City/Traverse City West) led the Knights to
regain the double-digit lead they had held during the eleventh minute in the
previous half, scoring eight points in 4:30 to establish a 36-25 margin. But
after two free-throw shots from sophomore Sarah Partridge (East Lansing/East
Lansing), Calvin failed to score for over six minutes, allowing Thomas More to
come within seven points at 38-31.

Winkle stepped up for Calvin at this point, making two consecutive free-throws
and a jumper to put the Knights ahead 42-31. Though Thomas More chipped away
at the lead, after a Partridge jumper at the four-minute mark that made the
score 46-36, Calvin steadily increased the margin, shooting 7-8 from the
free-throw line to take the 53-38 win.

Zimmerman led all scoring with 15 points, with Winkle also in double-digits
with 14 points and 13 rebounds, good for her 45th collegiate double-double.
Willett contributed eight points and took six rebounds.

Eleven of Calvin’s points came from the bench, a statistic which pleased
Ross:“I thought we had good contributions off the bench, particularly from
Brook VanEck and Sarah Partridge. They came to Calvin to play and they’re
getting a chance to do that right now and they’re excited for the
opportunity.”

Thomas More was lead in defeat by Kristen Humphrey, who scored 14 points and
Tangie Sellers, who had seven. In holding the Thomas More to under 40 points,
Calvin proved successful its new defensive strategy. “Without Marcia and
Kristi we’re obviously a different team. We won’t be able to outscore teams
like we used to so now we have to do it on the defensive end. I told our team
that our goal is to hold the opposition to 40 points and tonight we reached
that goal. If we want to continue to advance in the tournament, our defense
will be the key,” Coach Ross said.

Calvin advances to play the winner of tonight’s match-up between Oglethorpe
(GA) and host Wilmington. Sizing up the potential opponents, Coach Ross said,
“I don’t know a lot about either team. We’ll watch their game tonight
with interest. If we do end up playing Wilmington, we’ll have to play strong
on their home floor. We have played well on the road in a hostile atmosphere
before though and we know what that experience is like.” Saturday’s game is
scheduled to begin at 7:30 EST.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Mar 2 20:13:43 2007