CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 22, 2009
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 59, Madonna 56
GRAND RAPIDS -- The nationally-ranked Calvin women's basketball team held off
a determined Madonna squad Tuesday night, defeating the visiting Crusaders
59-56 at Calvin's Van Noord Arena. Madonna (4-6) held a 53-51 lead with under
five minutes remaining but the Knights (11-1) retook the lead at 54-53 on a
triple by freshman Kelsey Irwin (Fraser HS) with 3:57 left to play. The triple
was the fourth of the game for Irwin who played a key role in cracking
Madonna's zone defense.
A layup by freshman center Carissa Verkaik (Holland Christian HS) gave Calvin
a 56-53 lead with 2:41 remaining and senior Emily Ottenhoff (Palos Heights,
IL/Chicago Christian HS) connected on a pair of free throws with 13 seconds
left to put the Knights up 59-53. A three-pointer by Madonna's Shantelle
Herring cut the deficit to 58-56 with 4.5 seconds remaining but Ottenhoff was
able to hit a free throw with 2.9 seconds to go to put Calvin up three. A
desperation three-pointer by Madonna from half-court the buzzer was off the
mark, allowing 19th-ranked Calvin to claim the win.
Verkaik led all scorers with 19 points to go with 14 rebounds, four assists
and four blocked shots while Irwin tossed in a career-high 12 points off the
bench. The double-double by Verkaik was her seventh double-double of the
season.
In the first half, Calvin trailed 30-23 but rallied with a 13-3 run over the
final four minutes capped off by a bank shot from three-point range just before
the halftime buzzer by junior Leah Morrison (Chelsea HS) that lifted the
Knights into a 36-33 lead at the break.
Madonna was led in scoring by Tabatha Wydrick with 18 points, six assists and
six rebounds while Kaylee McGrath had 13 points including three triples.
Calvin held a 42-37 rebounding advantage and shot 36.1 percent from the field.
Madonna shot 32.7 percent from the field including just 25.0 percent in the
second half. Madonna was 7 of 22 (.318) from three-point range while Calvin was
8 of 24 (.333) from beyond the long line. Madonna connected on 13 of 17 at the
charity striple (.765) while Calvin was 7 of 9 (.778) at the line.
Calvin will now face an two-and-a-half week layoff between games as the
Knights do not play again until January 9 when they travel to Trine University
for a 1 p.m. conference contest.
POST GAME INTERVIEW WITH CALVIN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH JOHN ROSS:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/audio/09/Women%27sBBall/JohnRoss122209PostGame.mp3
MEN'S SOCCER
The Calvin College men's soccer team excelled on the field this fall,
advancing all the way to the NCAA III Championship finals. Under the direction
of head coach Chris Hughes, the Knights have also excelled in the classroom
too.
The Calvin men's soccer team was recently selected as a recipient of the
National Soccer Coaches Association of America College Team Academic Award. To
receive the honor, a team needed to post a cumulative team grade point average
of 3.0 or above.
The Calvin men's soccer team posted a 3.19 grade point average for the 2008-09
academic year. This marks the first time the Knights have received the NSCAA
College Team Academic Award.
MORE MEN'S SOCCER
CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA will air at 1:30 p.m. Eastern,
Saturday, December 26, on CBS Sports. Highlights and stories from cross
country, field hockey, soccer and volleyball will be featured in the program.
For the 2009-10 academic year, CBS Sports will feature more than 40 of the
NCAA’s 88 championships in its three seasonal shows.
The hour-long program will include highlights of the NCAA III Men's Soccer
Final Four that Calvin participated in earlier this month. At the Final Four,
Calvin defeated Dominican University (IL) 1-0 before falling to Messiah (PA)
2-0 in the championship game.
Received on Tue Dec 22 22:55:05 2009
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