CSR (Women's Basketball Holds On For Two-Point Win Over Saint Catharine)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 28, 2008 (Part One)

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, St. Catharine (KY) 72

CRESTVIEW HILLS, KY -- Calvin hung on for a 74-72 win over NAIA Division I opponent St. Catharine of Kentucky Friday afternoon on the first day of competition of the Julie Costello Classic hosted by Thomas More College.

Calvin enjoyed double-digits leads in both the first and second half only to see the Patriots mount furious comeback runs. In the first half, Calvin (5-0) was able to build a 14-point lead at 32-18 with under two minutes left only to see St. Catharine (5-5) roll off a 10-2 run to close to within six at the half.

In the second half, Calvin ripped off a 27-9 run to lead 61-39 with just 8:25 remaining but once again, the Patriots came roaring back, outscoring Calvin 31-11 over the final eight minutes to nearly pull off the come-from-behind win.

St. Catharine cut the Calvin lead down to one at 70-69 with just a minute left but the Knights received a pair of free throws inside the final minute of play from senior Kristi Brummel (South Christian HS) and junior Amber Benthem (McBain Christian HS) to seal the win. A three-pointer with a second remaining by the Patriots created the final two-point margin of victory.

Benthem finished the game with a career-high 18 points to lead Calvin while senior Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids Christian HS) had 12 while Brummel and junior Brook Van Eck (Lowell HS) chipped in with 10 points each. Senior Sarah Partridge (East Lansing HS) also had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshmen Courtney Kurncz (St. Johns HS) and Leah Mattson (Cadillac HS) chipped in with seven points apiece off the bench with Kurncz also collecting six rebounds.

St. Catharine was led by Erin Rogers with 22 points while Erin Milam had 15.

"St. Catharine is very athletic and very explosive," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "When they started turning up the heat, they were difficult to stop. We feel very good about coming out of this game with a victory against a very talented opponent."

Free throw shooting proved to be a crucial factor as the Knights were 27 of 35 (.771) at the charity stripe while the Patriots were 12 of 16 (.750). The up-and-down game featured 53 turnovers with St. Catharine turning the ball over 28 times and Calvin 25 times.

Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it takes on nationally-ranked Thomas More College at 2:00 p.m.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Nov 28 16:26:20 2008