CKSR (Women's Basketball Rolls to Win at Saint Mary's; Men's Basketball Falls to Hope in Holland)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 18, 2012

Women's Basketball Rolls to Win at Saint Mary's;
Men's Basketball Falls to Hope in Holland

WOMEN’SBASKETBALL
Calvin 80, Saint Mary’s 54
(By Sports Information Student Assistant Mark DeHaan)

NOTRE DAME, IN - Traveling down to Notre Dame, IN for a midweek game
againstSaint Mary’s, the Calvin Knights women's basketball team continued
itsundefeated season, defeating the host Belles 80-54. Ranked fourth
nationally,the Knights are now 16-0 overall and 8-0 in the MIAA at the
mid-point of theleague schedule.

TheKnights started off the game dominating in the post. Junior Ally Wolffis
andsenior Courtney Kurncz combined to score 13 points in the opening minutes
tobuild Calvin's lead to 13-4.

Calvincontinued to build its lead over the Belles to as much as 14 on a pair
ofKurncz free throws with 7:20 remaining.

SaintMary's closed the gap to ten with just over a minute to go on a jumper
bysenior Patsy Mahoney, but Calvin would respond with a Leah Mattson layup
tofinish the half up 29-17.

At the break, Calvin's 12-point advantage was due to its balance on
offense.Wolffis had nine, Kurncz eight, and junior Carissa Verkaik had eight
points andnine rebounds. The Belles were led on offense by senior Kelley
Murphy, whoscored five points and grabbed eight rebounds by the break, four on
theoffensive end.

Aftershooting 0-for-10 from three-point range in the first half, the Knights
hit twoearly three-point shots in the second half to extend their lead to
43-24.

Back-to-back three point shots with just over 11 minutes to go again
extendedthe Calvin lead, this time to 56-31.

Inthe final ten minutes, Kurncz would added six more points for Calvin,
givingher 22 points on the night, a career high. Head Coach John Ross played
everyoneon his roster as Calvin finished off an 80-54 victory.
 
Togo along with Kurncz's 22 points, Verkaik added a near triple-double with
16points, 11 rebounds, and eight blocks, while Wolffis added 14 points and
sevenrebounds. Off the bench, Julia Hilbrands had seven points and nine
rebounds.

KelleyMurphy had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Belles, seniors Patsy
Mahoney andMaggie Ronan had 15 and 12, respectively.

Calvin shot 67.7% in the second half en route to 52.3% shooting for the
game.The Knights held the Belles to just 26.9% shooting for the game.

The loss drops the Belles to 7-10 and 3-5 in conference. The Knights return
toaction on Saturday when they travel to Adrian for a 3 p.m. contest.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Hope 81, Calvin 65

HOLLAND - The Knights played 28 minutes of stellar basketball in
Wednesday’sinstallment of the Rivalry with Hope College, played at their
DeVosFieldhouse. Unfortunately, the final 12 minutes resulted in an
81-65defeat at the hands of the Flying Dutchmen.
After thegame, Calvin Coach Kevin Vande Streek said he knew his team would have
to play40 minutes of their best basketball to knock off their 7th
rankedarchrival, who now boast a 15-1 overall record and an undefeated 5-0
conferencemark. Calvin entered the game 7-8 overall and 2-2 in conference.
The Knightsopened the game on a shooting spree. Matt DeBoer got things rolling
as hesquared up to knock down the game’s first triple and give Calvin an early
5-0 advantage. Soonafter, Tommy Snikkers, who led the Knights with 17 points,
drained athree-ball in transition to put Calvin on top 14-4. And Brian
Haverdink,drilled a three to surpass the Knight’s three-point total from
Saturday in thegame’s opening minutes.
Theoffensive highlights were bolstered by a stifling defensive effort.
TheKnights held the potent Dutchmen offense to four points the game’s first
fiveminutes. Immediately following Haverdink’s three, Tyler Kruis contributeda
block of Dutchmen Center Nate VanArendonk.
But Hopewould respond quickly. David Krombeen countered with consecutive
three’sand the Dutchmen cut the lead to 23-22 before Vande Streek had to
call atimeout.
Still,Calvin had an answejumpersfrom the identical spot and Snikkers turned in the lane to convert on a
babyhook to once again extend Calvin’s lead to double digits. The Knightswent
into halftime leading by eight.
Hope openedthe second half with a string of old-fashioned three-point plays,
and, fourminutes into the half, the Dutchmen were down only three. A
fewpossessions later, Krombeen got free under the basket and made a lay-up to
tiethe game and excite the home crowd. Calvin sophomore Jordan Mast then hita
three in the face of a Hope momentum swing to momentarily quell the
Dutchmenattack, as well as their crowd.
But Hope’sNate Snuggerud and Peter Bunn, who both had quiet first halves,
combined for 21points in the second, causing Hope to pull away. After being
tied at 57with 12 minutes remaining, Hope went on an electric 24-8 run to seal
the gameat 81-65.
“We seemedto fragment a little bit,” said Vande Streek after the game, citing
thenecessity of mistake-free play against the rival. “Hope is so good thatwhen
you make a mistake, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
Snikkers,who led the Knights with 17 points and six rebounds, said “We need to
playbetter defense” and called the game inspiration that “motivates us to
workharder.”
DeBoer andKruis each had thirteen points. Krombeen led all scorers with
21points.
Calvin hostsTrine University on Saturday.
 
Received on Thu Jan 19 00:41:21 2012