CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 13, 2010
Women's Basketball Downs Albion at Home - Also Retains Share of First Place in
MIAA Standings
Men's Basketball Picks Up Victory at Trine - Retains Share of First Place in
MIAA Standings;
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(written by sports information student assistant Derek Neice)
GRAND RAPIDS - Still fresh off a long holiday break, the twelfth ranked
Knights maintained their perfect 2010 MIAA record with a win Wednesday night at
home against the Britons of Albion. Victorious by a score of 65-44, Calvin
played good offense and even better defense, especially in the second half.
The Knights were led again by freshman Carissa Verkaik (Holland, MI), who
finished with 17 points and 13 boards. Verkaik also had a pair of big blocks
on the night. Senior Amber Benthem (McBain, MI) and sophomore Courtney Kurncz
(St. Johns, MI) added 11 points and junior Brook Van Eck (Lowell, MI) chipped
in 7 points and grabbed 3 boards.
Calvin jumped out to an early lead in the first half but the Britons stayed
close, holding the Knights to a 10-point lead at the half.
The Knights then fortified the castle in the second half, and as a defense
they played out of their minds. Albion scored only five points over an
approximate 12 minute span, a stretch that saw Calvin go on a 25-5 run.
“We did not execute very well against what they did to us in the first half,”
Calvin coach John Ross said after the game. “But we did a much better of that
defensively in the second half, I was very happy of how we did defensively in
the second half.”
Reserve players were then sent in to the game to close things out and Albion
put up a few more points, but the game was already well out of hand as Calvin
rolled to an eventual 65-44 victory.
“If you want to be a really good team you have to defend and our defense
played very well in the first ten minutes of the second half,” Ross said of his
defense’s exemplary play.
Albion was led in scoring by Melissa Shaw with 15 points and Keigan Edwards
with 14. Shaw also had four steals and post player Autumn Haggadone finished
with nine rebounds for the Britions.
As a team, Calvin matched a season-high with 17 assists with Ottenhoff and
Kurncz leading in the passing department with four dimes apiece.
With the win Calvin moves to 13-1 overall and remains perfect in the MIAA at
5-0. Albion falls to 2-4 in the conference and 6-8 overall.
Calvin is back in action Saturday as they hit the road and travel to Adrian
for a MIAA powerhouse match-up. That game is scheduled to commence at 3 p.m.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Adrian 80, Kalamazoo 70 – OT
Hope 91, Saint Mary’s 72
Olivet 68, Alma 56
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-13-10
Calvin 5-0
Hope 5-0
Adrian 3-2
Saint Mary’s 3-2
Olivet 3-3
Alma 2-3
Albion 2-4
Trine 1-4
Kalamazoo 0-6
MEN'S BASKETBALL
ANGOLA, IN - Calvin stretched its win streak to three games and retained a
share of first place in the MIAA standings with an 81-66 victory over Trine
Wednesday night at Trine’s Hershey Hall.
Calvin remains tied with Albion at 3-0 in the MIAA standings. Albion handed
Kalamazoo its first conference defeat of the year on Wednesday, defeating the
Hornets 64-55, leaving the Knights and Britons alone in first place.
Calvin (8-6 overall, 3-0 MIAA) used a blistering first half offensive shooting
performance to roll out to a 52-33 halftime lead. Calvin shot 56.3 percent from
the field in the opening 20 minutes including 6 of 13 (.462) from three-point
range.
Seniors John Mantel and Matt Veltema led the first half charge with 12 and 11
points respectively.
“We really had a good first half,” said Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek.
“We did a very good job of attacking their full court press that got us
going and I think we also did a good job of finding holes in their zone in the
half-court.”
Calvin maintained a comfortable margin throughout the second half, leading by
as many as 23 points.
Freshman Tom Snikkers led Calvin in scoring with 18 points which included his
first collegiate dunk. Mantel was close behind with 17 points while Veltema had
14 points and junior Trent Salo 10 points with Salo matching a career scoring
high at Calvin.
Calvin finished the game with a 41-29 rebounding advantage led by senior Paul
Campbell who ripped down seven rebounds off the bench.
“I’m really proud of Paul,” said Vande Streek. “He has really stepped up his
play for us. We played some zone defense tonight and I thought he did an
outstanding job in helping our zone be effective. He has long arms and gets his
hands in the passing lanes and he also does a great job of getting to the
glass.”
Calvin also held a sizable advantage at the free throw line, converting 20 of
23 (.870) at the charity stripe led by Mantel who 9 of 10 at the line.
Conversely, Trine was just 3 of 4 at the free throw line.
Calvin will now turn its attention to a home Saturday matchup against Adrian
at 3 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.
OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 64, Kalamazoo 55
Adrian 78, Alma 60
Olivet 67, Hope 64
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-13-10
Albion 3-0
Calvin 3-0
Adrian 2-1
Kalamazoo 2-1
Hope 1-2
Olivet 1-2
Alma 0-3
Trine 0-3
Received on Wed Jan 13 23:58:58 2010
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