CSR (Women's Basketball Team Defeats Saint Mary's in MIAA Tournament Semis - To Face Hope in Finals)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 25, 2010
 
Women's Basketball to Face Hope in MIAA Tournament Championship Game Saturday
in Holland
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 90, Saint Mary's 71

(By sports information student assistant Derek Neice)

Thursday night’s MIAA Tournament semifinal game between the Knights and Belles
 saw Calvin set a new MIAA Tournament record for made field goals as Calvin
connected on 38 field goals in racing away to a 90-71 victory over Saint Mary’s
at Van Noord Arena. The explosive offense that the Knights have possessed all
year, led by freshman sensation Carissa Verkaik, shot nearly 60 percent from
the field and now will play Saturday afternoon in the conference tournament
finals which will be hosted by Hope. The previous MIAA Tournament single-game
field goal record was 37, set by Albion in a 90-87 loss to Hope in a first
round MIAA tournament game in 1996.
Calvin finished the game with a 58.5 percent (38 of 65) field goal clip,
missing the MIAA Tournament single-game field goal percentage mark by just
three-tenths. The record of .588 was set by Calvin (30-of-51) in an 86-70 win
over Albion in the 1993 MIAA tournament semifinals in a game that ironically
also took place on February 25.
“The key was that the post did a good job of sealing up and our guards made
some great passes and we hit some good shots,” said Calvin coach John Ross
afterwards. “If you can play the inside-out game effectively, it makes you
tough to beat.”
Verkaik led the Knights with 19 points and 9 rebounds on 7 of 12 shooting,
just missing out on her 12th double-double of the season. Senior Brook VanEck
poured in 14 points in the post on 7 of 12 shooting, sophomore Courtney Kurncz
had an extremely good showing with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and freshman
Allison Wolffis came off the bench and scored 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting.
Additionally for the Knights, senior Amber Benthem scored 9 points, senior
Emily Ottenhoff chipped in 8, and sophomore Jill Thomas added 5 more off the
bench.
Saint Mary’s kept the game very close in the initial part of the first half,
closing a Calvin lead to one with six minutes left in the half. Calvin started
falling to its old nemesis of ball control as they turned the ball over on
various occasions and did not capitalize on good offensive chances, and the
Belles put together some very fluid plays to keep themselves in the game. But
Calvin’s offense was too potent and their defense just good enough and the
Knights pulled through for the victory.
“We just have to keep being confident on the offensive end and we need to do a
better job defensively,” said Ross of what he thinks his team could improve on.
 “The last two weeks we’ve really struggled on the defensive end and if we’re
going to keep this season going a little longer, we’re going to have to start
holding teams in the forties.”
Calvin led by 16 at the break Thursday night, and they built on that lead in
the second half, going up on the Belles by as much as 33. But as Ross began to
play the reserves, Saint Mary’s cut the deficit down to 19 at the end of the
game.
For Saint Mary’s, senior post-player Anna Kammrath put forth a great
performance despite Calvin leading much of the game, as she scored 18 points
and pulled down 7 rebounds in her last game as a Belle.
As Calvin looks forward, it will travel west to Holland to play rival Hope on
Saturday afternoon, the third match-up between the two teams this season. Hope
defeated Adrian 66-54 in Thursday’s other semifinal game.
“We have to play harder on defense and the key is we have to rebound,” said
Ross of the upcoming game Saturday. “If we keep the turnovers down and shoot a
high percentage we’ll be in good shape.”
“I think we’re going to compete hard and we’re really excited about the rest
of the season for us,” Ross concluded.
That game is set to kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
MIAA TOURNAMENT GAME NOTES:.....With her 19 points, Carissa Verkaik
established a new Calvin single-season scoring record, moving past Lisa
Winkle’s total of 484 points established in 2004-05. Verkaik currently has
497 points on the season….Calvin is now 28-11 all-time in MIAA Tournament play
and 12-3 in MIAA Tournament semifinal games…Calvin will be making its 12th
appearance in the MIAA Tournament Championship game…the Knights are 4-7 in MIAA
Tournament Championship games…Calvin will be meeting Hope for 11th time in the
MIAA Tournament…Calvin is 4-6 against Hope in the MIAA Tournament including 0-4
in MIAA Tournament Championship games….Saturday will mark the first time the
teams have met in the final since 2007 when the Flying Dutch defeated by
Knights 71-68 at Calvin Fieldhouse….In grabbing three rebounds Thursday, Van
Eck moved past 2003 grad Emily Beard and into seventh place on the Calvin
career rebounding list…Van Eck now has 549 career boards and is just one
rebound behind 1994 grad Pam Wubben for sixth place.
 
CALVIN/HOPE MIAA TOURNAMENT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TICKET
INFORMATION

General Admission tickets for the Saturday afternoon game at Hope will be sold
at the Calvin Box Office (located on the second floor of the Spoelhof Center
above the Calvin Admissions Department on Friday, February 26 from 9am until
5:00pm – you must come in person. Tickets will also be available at the doors
of Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse before the game on Saturday starting at 2:00pm.
General Admission tickets are FREE for MIAA students with student ID. Calvin
students can get 1 FREE ticket per student ID, with a maximum of 2 student ID’s
per person until 12:00pm on Friday, after which time tickets will be $3.00
while supplies last. General Admission tickets are $3.00 for any college
faculty/staff and students, High School students and children, and $5.00 for
all others. Tickets must be paid by either cash or check. There is no limit
on the number of tickets to be purchased.
Received on Thu Feb 25 22:45:50 2010