CSR (Women's Basketball Falls to Hope/Men's Basketball Drops Contest at Olivet)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 3, 2010
 
Women's Basketball Falls To Hope In Rivalry Game;
Men's Basketball Drops Contest at Olivet
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Hope 61, Calvin 50
 
A 12-0 run in the final 4:39 of play allowed the visiting Flying Dutch of Hope to record a 61-50 victory over the Knights of Calvin Wednesday night at Van Noord Arena in a meeting of nationally-ranked teams.
 
Hope (19-1 overall, 11-0 MIAA) entered Wednesday's game ranked fourth nationally while Calvin (18-3 overall, 10-2 MIAA) came in ranked ninth.
 
Calvin took a 50-49 lead on a jumper by freshman Carissa Verkaik with 5:35 left to play but the Flying Dutch proceeded to rip off 12 unanswered points fueled by eight points by freshman Liz Ellis down the stretch, six of which came on three-point shots.
 
In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, Hope recorded a 73-58 win, forcing the Knights into 24 turnovers. On Wednesday, Calvin turned the ball over 28 times including 18 times in the first half. Despite the turnover trouble, Calvin remained in the contest.
 
After falling behind by seven in the first half, Calvin closed with a 5-0 run capped off by a jumper by senior Emily Ottenhoff to trail just 26-23 at halftime.
 
Hope opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 36-25 lead with 16:34 remaining but the Knights fough back with a 12-3 run midway through the second half to close to within one at 43-42. Sophomores Jill Thomas and Leah Mattson both connected on triples in the Calvin burst with Mattson's three-ball making the score 43-42.
 
After falling behind 49-44, Calvin rattled off six unanswered points with Verkaik scoring on a jumper in close, Kurncz connecting on a baseline shot and Verkaik scoring again on a jumper in the paint to put the Knights up 50-49 with 5:35 left to play.
 
Calvin would not score again however as Ellis put the Flying Dutch up to stay on a three-pointer with 4:39 left, igniting Hope's final surge.
 
"I want to first give credit to Hope tonight," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross after the game. "They are certainly one of the finest teams in all of Division III. We had a much better effort tonight as compared to our first meeting against them. We're getting closer to playing the kind of basketball we'll need to play to beat a team like Hope but we still have work to do. We just need to keep working hard and focus on each game in front of us."
 
Calvin was led in defeat by Verkaik who nabbed her 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds while blocking five shots. Senior Brook Van Eck also had 10 points and four rebounds while freshman Allison Wolffis contributed eight points off the bench.
 
Hope was led by junior center Carrie Snikkers with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Ellis had 10 points and four steals and senior Philana Greene 10 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists.
 
Hope shot 41.7 percent overall while Calvin shot 36.0 percent from the field. The Knights did hold a 36-33 rebounding edge and connected on 11 of 14 (.786) attempts at the free throw line.
 
Hope was charged with 21 turnovers but was also credited with 15 assists.
 
Wednesday's meeting marked the 97th meeting between Calvin and Hope in women's basketball with Calvin still maintaining a 61-36 series edge. Hope has won the last seven meetings however.
 
Calvin returns to action next Wednesday (February 10) when it hosts Trine at 7:30 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.

OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
 
Trine 60, Olivet 38
Saint Mary's 64, Adrian 62
Alma 70, Kalamazoo 61
 
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-3-10 GAMES
 
Hope 11-0
Calvin 10-2
Saint Marys 6-6
Trine 6-6
Adrian 5-6
Olivet 5-7
Albion 4-7
Alma 4-7
Kalamazoo 1-11
 
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Olivet 84, Calvin 61
 
OLIVET -- A rugged first half led to a deficit that was too big to overcome for the Calvin men's basketball team Wednesday evening as the Knights suffered an 84-61 defeat at Olivet. The loss drops Calvin into a tie for first place in the MIAA standing with rival Hope as the Knights are now 7-2 in league play including 12-8 overall.
 
Olivet (10-10 overall, 5-4 MIAA) raced out to a 44-26 halftime lead, shooting 55.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Olivet's Andre Evans had the hot hand in the first half with 19 points, en route to finishing with a game-high 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting inlcuding 4 of 7 from three-point range.
 
Calvin came back to trim the Olivet deficit to 13 points in the second half but Olivet closed the game out with a 22-12 scoring run to put the game away.
 
Junior Michael McClary also had a big for the Comets with 25 points and 10 rebounds with Andy Clark contributing 15 points off the bench.
 
Calvin was led in defeat by freshman Tom Snikkers with 13 points while freshman Bryan Powell had 11 points. Junior Brad Schnyders also had eight points off the bench.
 
Olivet shot 50.7 percent overall and held a 38-36 rebounding edge.
 
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Trine University at 3 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.
 
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
 
Adrian 59, Kalamazoo 50
Hope 84, Alma 74
Albion 81, Trine 62
 
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-3-10 GAMES
 
Calvin 7-2
Hope 7-2
Adrian 6-3
Albion 5-4
Olivet 5-4
Kalamazoo 4-5
Trine 2-7
Alma 0-9
Received on Wed Feb 3 23:59:36 2010