CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 3, 2007
Women's Basketball Pulls Out Thriller at Wilmington in NCAA Second Round Game
- Headed to Sweet 16 Round of NCAAs
Men’s Basketball Drops NCAA Second Round Game to Hope to End Season
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 73, Wilmington 67
WILMINGTON, OH -- A never-say die attitude has propelled the Calvin women's
basketball team into the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA III Tournament for the
fourth time in school history and for the second time in three years.
Playing without two of its top players and trailing 52-39 with 10:29 left to
play, Calvin (27-2) mounted a furious comeback efffort to stun the host Quakers
(25-5). Calvin ripped off a 14-2 scoring run in a span of three minutes to pull
to within a point at 54-53 with 7:18 remaining. Junior Lindsey Peuler
(Grandville HS) had five points in the run while senior Lisa Winkle (South
Christian HS) had six.
Another triple by Peuler tied the game at 56 with 6:24 left on the clock and
the Grandville native followed with another triple at the 4:58 mark that gave
Calvin its first lead of the game at 61-60.
"If you want to talk about our comeback tonight, it starts with Lindsey
Peuler," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "We had so many people
step up tonight but if Lindsey doesn't start knocking down those shots, we
don't get back into the game."
Calvin never trailed the rest of the way as junior Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse
City West HS) connected on a three and Winkle followed with a pair of free
throws to put the Knights up 66-60.
Wilmington roared back to within a point at 68-67 with 1:51 remaining on a
free throw by Katie Streck but Wilmington misfired on a potential go-ahead shot
and Calvin sophomore Kelly Trewhella (Rockford HS) answered with a soft jumper
from the left baseline that lifted the Knights into a 70-67 lead with 53
seconds left on the clock.
After a timeout, Wilmington misfired on a three-point shot, snared the
offensive rebound but lost the ball as Winkle came up with a clutch steal.
Winkle then swished a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left and Zimmerman
followed with a game-sealing free throw with 13 seconds left to close out the
win.
"There was no way we were going to quit," said Winkle who finished the game
with 22 points and 13 rebounds to notch her 46th collegiate double-double
including her 16th double-double of the season. "Everyone pulled together and
when Lindsey started hitting those threes, we just got a sudden surge of
energy."
Winkle's 13 rebounds lifted her career total to 1,009 while she bumped her
career scoring total to 1,684 points.
In the first half, Winkle was limited to just six points and four rebounds as
Wilmington clamped down on the interior as the Quakers took a 38-27 halftime
lead. Calvin was just 3 of 15 from three-point range in the first half but then
started to connect from the perimeter in the second half, finishing the game
with eight three-pointers on 30 attempts.
"I don't think we've ever taken 30 three-pointers in a game before," said
Ross. "Without Marcia Harris and Kristi Brummel, the makeup of our team has
changed so our style of play has also changed. We're making adjustments on the
fly and we're glad that everything worked out tonight."
Peuler finished the game with 13 points with all 13 coming in the second half.
Also instrumental to the Calvin win was the play of junior forward Rachael
Willett (Rockford HS) who scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds and
blocked seven shots as she limited Wilmington's leading scorer Katie Streck to
nine points, seven below her scoring average.
"Rachael was unbelievable inside," said Ross. "Her defense was a key."
Also coming up big for Calvin was freshman Brook VanEck (Lowell HS) who scored
eight points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Sarah
Partridge (East Lansing HS) also had eight points off the bench including two
crucial three-pointers.
Wilmington was led in scoring by senior Kelly Peters who had a double-double
with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Marianne McGoron had 16 points and Gina
Hyle 10 points.
Calvin held Wilmington to 34.9 percent field goal shooting including just 25.8
percent shooting in the second half as the Knights outscored the Quakers 46-29
over the final 20 minutes of play.
Calvin now advances to a four-team sectional tournament next Friday at a site
to be announced either Sunday night or Monday morning. Calvin will play the
winner of a Sunday afternoon game between Fitchburg State and Southern Maine.
The sectional will be filled out by DePauw and Emmanuel which both won second
round games on Saturday night.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Hope 80, Calvin 64
(Written by Annalise Venhuizen ’08)
AURORA, IL – This evening’s NCAA Division III Tournament regional game
between Calvin (19-10) and Hope (25-4) seemed a little too familiar. It was
the fifth meeting of the season for the conference rivals, the 166th in school
history. Even more, it was reminiscent of last year’s second round regional
game between the two teams, with Hope taking the ticket and advancing to
sectionals. Tying the all-time rivalry record at 83-83, Hope defeated Calvin
80-64.
Freshman John Mantel (Chelsea/Chelsea) scored six of the Knights first eight
points to keep pace with Hope through the first five minutes of play at which
point Hope led 9-8. The teams continued to match each other shot-for-shot with
ties at 21-21 and 23-23.
Calvin then established a five-point lead in commanding fashion with a
three-pointer from sophomore Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls
Christian) immediately followed by a fast-break Tyler Zoerhof (Holland/Holland
Christian) dunk off a Hope turnover. Mantel followed up with two free-throws to
give Calvin the 30-23 lead at the 7:00 mark.
Another four minutes, however, saw Calvin down 33-42 as the Knights’ only
points came from free throws that were no match for Hope’s four
three-pointers during that time. Mantel stepped in again and restored the
Knights’ hope going four-for-four from the stripe and making a jumper, points
uncontested by Hope that put Calvin within three at 39-42. Calvin was within
reach of the Dutchmen at the end of the first half, trailing by eight points
42-50.
Calvin chopped that lead in half coming out of the gates after halftime,
jumpers by seniors Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran) and Eric
DeVries (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) and sophomore Dustin Smith
(Hamilton/Hamilton) making the score 48-52 Hope.
From that point on, however, Hope steadily pulled away, playing a tough
defensive game and winning the battle of the boards. In the last six minutes
of the half, Hope consistenly held a double-digit lead while Calvin’s field
goal percentage dwindled. The Dutchmen took an 80-64 win over a young Calvin
conference championship team.
“As you can imagine, the guys are really disappointed,” assistant coach
Tim VanDyke said. “We’ve had improvement and great success in the month of
February and in the tournament.”
Mantel led Calvin in defeat with 16 points, while Veldhouse added 13. Playing
in the final game of his career, Meckes had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“Josh is one of the best defensive players in the league, and he came around
offensively this season as well. He’s had great success in his career with
the Knights,” VanDyke said.
Tonight’s game was also the last for DeVries and senior Kyle Snoeyink
(Grandville/Calvin Christian). “Eric DeVries has just been a guy who’s
worked really, really hard. He’s been a starter all through the conference
season and did a great job for us,” VanDyke said. “Kyle is a guy who knows
how to win. Though he’s had injuries with his feet, he gave us all he could.
But his feet were hurting him and limited his ability to help us.”
Hope’s Stephen Cramer led all scoring with 26 points and Jesse Reimink had
11 points. Hope out-rebounded Calvin 34-31, a statistic that has proven
predictive of the outcome of these rivalry games, says VanDyke.
Head Coach Kevin VandeStreek summed up the game: “They made it tough
defensively for us to score. Hope played very well. They were the better team
tonight and deserved to win.”
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat, 03 Mar 2007 23:00:59 -0500
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