CSR (Women's Basketball Defeated by University of Chicago 67-62 in 2nd Round of NCAA's)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 5, 2011
 
Women's Basketball Defeated by University of Chicago 67-62 in 2nd Round of
NCAA's
 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Chicago 67, Calvin 62

By Sports Information Student Assistant Derek Neice

Despite overcoming a large deficit in the second half, the Knights missed keys
shots down the stretch and were unable to secure a lead in the final minutes of
the game as a very talented and physical University of Chicago team defeated
Calvin 67-62 Saturday evening in a second round NCAA III Tournament game
Saturday night at Van Noord Arena. Chicago entered the game ranked fifth in the
Division III Coaches poll and sixth by d3hoops.com. Calvin came in ranked 13th
in the Division III Coaches poll and 18th by d3hoops.com
Carissa Verkaik led Calvin with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 big blocks on
defense. Courtney Kurncz added 11 points, Jill Thomas chipped in 8, and Ally
Wolffis and Julia Hilbrands both finished with 7 each for the Knights.
The Knights shot a respectable 40.0 percent from the field but only hit on
35.3 percent of their three point attempts on 6 of 17 shooting. Calvin also
struggled from the charity stripe in hitting on 12 of 17 of their free throws
for the game.
The Maroons also out-rebounded Calvin 40-32, leading to a 21-8 deficit in
second chance points that favored Chicago, who had four players in double digit
scoring.
“Chicago came out really aggressive and really physical from the get-go,”
Coach Ross said afterward. “We made some pretty good adjustments but it was
just a little too late.”
“But I think we’ve accomplished a ton with a very young team,” Ross continued.
 “We’re really happy with how this season went and we’re looking forward to a
great 2011-12 season.”
In the first half the Maroons went up early on an 11-2 start to the game and
led by as much as 12 points before Calvin started getting back into the game,
but Chicago led 32-23 at the break. In the second half Calvin got to within 2
points at 56-54, but the Knights were unable to score on consecutive tries on
offense to bring the score to a tie.
The Maroons then used a big 7-0 run to lead 63-54, essentially cementing the
game. Calvin was able to use a couple of three point plays to bring the score
back to 66-62 with only 20 seconds to go, but time simply just ran out before
the comeback could ever be fully completed.
“I’m proud of our team because we played hard,” Verkaik said. “I think it’s a
good learning experience to build on for next year, but it also hurts at the
same time to not be able to keep going.”
The Knights end their season at 25-5 overall, and with great hopes for next
season in regard to how many returning players will be back to try and
replicate this year’s success.
University of Chicago, now 24-3, will face Greensboro College (NC) next Friday
in a round of sixteen game.
FINAL SEASON NOTES:...Calvin was making its 13th appearance in the NCAA III
Tournament…the Knights are now 15-13 all-time in NCAA III Tournament play…With
Saturday’s victory, Chicago snapped a 19-game homecourt win streak by Calvin at
Van Noord Arena dating back to February of 2010 when the Knights were defeated
by Hope 61-50….Calvin is now 8-4 at home in NCAA III Tournament play…1-1 at Van
Noord Arena and 7-3 at Calvin Fieldhouse…Saturday’s game marked just the
second-ever meeting between Calvin and Chicago in women’s basketball…Calvin had
won the first meeting - a 65-52 regular season contest during the 1997-98
season….In eight years as head coach, John Ross has posted a won-loss record of
179-46 for a winning percentage of .796 that includes three MIAA regular season
titles, two MIAA Tournament crowns and five trips to the NCAA III
Tournament…Calvin is now 33-5 all-time inside Van Noord Arena….Sophomore
Kelsey Irwin had one triple Saturday night and finished the season with a
team-leading 43 triples…Of her 44 field goals overall this year, 43 were from
beyond the three-point arc….Sophomore Carissa Verkaik finished the year with 14
double-doubles and now has 34 double-doubles in her career..With her 23 points,
17 rebounds and seven blocked shots Saturday, Verkaik moved past Pam Wubben and
into 10th place (1,121 points) on the Calvin career scoring list, into sixth
place on the Calvin career rebounding list (557) and finished just one blocked
shot shy of a Calvin single-season record…Verkaik finished with 123 blocked
shots…the school record is 124 set by Sally Huyser in 1990….Huyser is also the
career leader in blocks with 399…Verkaik has 222 career blocks heading into
next year…Calvin’s 25-5 overall record matched the second-highest single-season
win total in Calvin history…the record is 28 set by Calvin’s 2006-07 team that
finished 28-2 overall.
Received on Sat Mar 5 22:55:47 2011