CSR (Calvin's NCAA Tournament Run Ends with Loss to DePauw)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2007

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

DePauw 74, Calvin 61

BOSTON, MA -- A hard-fought NCAA Division III Tournament run ended for Calvin
(28-3) with a 71-64 loss to DePauw University (29-3) in National Quarterfinals
play at Emmanuel College in Boston. Though senior Lisa Winkle (Grand
Rapids/South Christian) will make a trip to the Final Four next weekend as the
recipient of the recently-awarded Josten's Trophy, the highest honor in NCAA
Division III women's basketball, she will have to do so without the rest of her
team.

Calvin found itself trailing DePauw 11-4 early in the first half, a deficit
which forced Calvin to play catch-up throughout the entire game. After a
Calvin timeout eight minutes in, Winkle put up two consecutive lay-ups to
narrow the margin to three, 11-8. After a made DePauw shot, Winkle again
scored four uncontested points and Calvin trailed by only one point, 13-12.
The Knights matched DePauw point-for-point through the next three posessions as
two Winkle free-throws and a jumper from junior Lindsey Peuler
(Grandville/Grandville) kept Calvin close at 17-16. DePauw then had a huge
offensive showing coupled with strong defensive play that limited Calvin's
scoring to a lay-up and two free-throws by Winkle. With this combination, the
Tigers ended the first half with a 10-4 run to lead 28-20 at halftime.

The Knight's first-half woes came from a lack of the offensive depth that
usually comes through for Calvin, a lack highlighted by the fact that 16 of
Calvin's 20 first-half points came from Winkle. "Nothing really seemed to
work," Head Coach Jon Ross said. "Our offense was just stagnant tonight."

An offense more characteristic of Calvin shone in the first eight minutes of
the second half, as scoring came from four Calvin players in those minutes and
put the Knights within three points, 39-36. Freshman Brook VanEck
(Lowell/Lowell) had five points during that stretch and freshman Allison
Griswold (Webberville/Lansing Christian) sunk a three-pointer.

However, DePauw's defense put the cap on any further Calvin advancement and
went on a decisive 17-2 scoring run over the next five minutes to establish an
18-point, 56-38 lead. With only seven minutes left on the clock, Calvin began
to battle back and managed to cut that lead to 11 as junior Nikki Zimmerman
(Traverse City/Traverse City West) made a three-pointer at the 2:00 mark.
Though DePauw saw no field goals in these last minutes, it went 11-for-14 from
the three-point line to seal the 74-61 win and its ticket to Final Four play.

Leading Calvin was Winkle with 24 points and 12 rebounds, her 48th colleigiate
double-double and 18th on the season. Winkle's team-leading efforts this
evening exemplified her success at the colleigiate level as she stands at the
top of both Calvin's All-Time Scoring list with 1,721 total points and All-Time
Rebounding list with 1,034 rebounds. As Winkle entered the Knights' program
four years ago, she did so at the same time as Coach Ross; neither know Calvin
College basketball without the other. "The toughest thing about the loss is
that we're losing Lisa Winkle. She is the best player in Division III women's
basketball, a great team leader, a great teammate, and a great Christian lady.
We'll really miss her," Ross said.

Also contributing for Calvin were sophomore Kelly Trewhella
(Rockford/Rockford) with ten points and VanEck with nine points.

DePauw's leading scorers were Liz Bondi with 14 points, Cassie Pruzin and
Caitlin McGonigal with 12 points apiece, and Suzy Doughty with 11 points.

"I give DePauw a lot of credit tonight, but I don't think we played very well.
 Not because our players didn't play hard, but because we didn't execute," Ross
said. "We had a great year. I'm very proud of my players and very happy with
what they give, and we'll be back."

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Mar 10 21:52:13 2007