CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for March 10, 2012)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 10, 2012

Women's Basketball Season Comes to an End With Overtime Loss to St. Thomas;
Nick Kramer Claims All-America Berth in 5,000 Meters at NCAA III Indoor Track &
Field Championships;
Women's Tennis Defeated by Davenport

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
St. Thomas 83, Calvin 72 (OT)
By Andrew Knot

The Knights’ season came to a close on Saturday with a loss to St. Thomas
University in the NCAA Elite Eight.

The game was tight in the early going. At the first media timeout, Calvin led
11-10 and the Tommies’ Maggie Weiers had eight points. Turnovers would plague
the Knights from there as Calvin had given away the ball nine times with 7:25
remaining in the first half.

St. Thomas maintained a slight lead throughout the half. With two minutes
remaining, Carissa Verkaik knocked down a three from the left wing to cut the
deficit to a single point. Verkaik’s first half performance was limited by
three fouls and the Knights entered the locker room trailing by five.

Things only got worse to start the second half. Sarah Smith and Maggie Weiers
each got to the basket to put the Tommies on top by eleven in the half’s first
minute.
St. Thomas would cling to its lead for much of the second half, but Verkaik was
determined not to let foul trouble silence her. Verkaik had 18 points in the
second half and didn’t miss a shot from the field or the free throw line.
Behind her efforts and a crucial three from her sister Breanna, the Knights
were able to shrink the deficit to two points just six minutes into the half.

St. Thomas remained effective offensively, but the Knights were able to bring
the game to its fourth tie after Courtney Kurncz’ lay-up knotted the game at 63
with three minutes to play.

Verkaik scored the Knights final six points, but St. Thomas kept pace and with
five seconds left, the two squads remained square at 69. After a Calvin
timeout, Kurncz stepped back well behind the three-point arc and hoisted a
three-pointer at the buzzer. As time expired, Kurncz’ attempt rattled in and
out of the rim to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Knights were unable to score until late in the period. Calvin
turned the ball over on its first three possessions and the Tommies established
a six point lead just two minutes into the period.

St. Thomas would continue to score from there and, as the buzzer sounded, the
Knights trailed by 11. The game ended with a score of 83-72.

"I give a lot of credit to St. Thomas tonight," said Calvin women's basketball
coach John Ross after the game. "There were some things that we did not do as
well as what we wanted to but I credit St. Thomas for that."

Verkaik ended the game with 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Verkaik finished the season with 128 blocked shots, establishing a new Calvin
single-season record, surpassing the previous record of 124. Her performance
on Saturday night marked her 38th collegiate double-double and her 13th
double-double of the season. Heading into her senior year, she is 24 points
away from becoming Calvin's all-time leading scorer.

Kurncz was one of three Calvin seniors who played in their final collegiate
game Saturday night. Kurncz had 10 points and four assists. Seniors Jill Thomas
and Leah Mattson also played in their final games Saturday night.

Calvin shot 45.6 percent overall but committed 26 turnovers. St. Thomas shot
49.1 percent and was led by Taylor Young with 25 points while Maggie Weiers had
16.

Calvin committed 26 turnovers in the loss including 16 in the first half.

NOTES: Calvin is now 18-14 in NCAA III Tournament play. ....Calvin has now
played in the NCAA III quarterfinals three times and lost all three times.....
In Calvin's two prior losses, Calvin's opponent (Millikin in 2005 & DePauw in
2007) continued on to win the national championship. Calvin's 28-2 record
matches a (Calvin) single-season mark for wins in a season....Calvin's 2007
team also went 28-2....junior Kelsey Irwin connected on three-pCalvin's game Saturday night, bringing her season total to 53. All of her field
goals this year were from three-point range as she was 53-of-129 for a
three-point clip of .411...Calvin's overtime game against St. Thomas was its
first overtime game since the 2008-09 season....it also marked just the second
time Calvin has faced a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent
with Calvin also meeting Hamline in a regular season game in 1998.

MEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

GRINNELL, IA - Calvin added one more All-America berth at the NCAA III Indoor
Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Grinnell College as senior Nick
Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) took eighth in the 5,000 meter run with
a time of 14:26.84. The All-America finish was the sixth of Kramer's track and
field career including his second indoors. Junior Matt VanderRoest (Ann
Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) also placed 11th with a time of 14:47.99.

Earlier in the day, junior Aaron Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS)
took eighth in the shot put with a career-best throw of 54-4 1/2 to claim
All-America plaudits.

As a team, Calvin finished 48th with a team score of two points.

North Central captured the team title with 48 points with Wisconsin-Eau Claire
second with 37 points.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Davenport 7, Calvin 2

Calvin dipped to 1-4 on the year with a 7-2 loss to Davenport Friday night.
Freshman Alli Roode (Unity Christian HS) was a winner at No. 6 singles while
sophomore Lauren Schlagenhauf and junior Jordan Ipema were winners at No. 3
doubles.

Davenport entered the match ranked 24th nationally in NAIA women's tennis.

Calvin returns to action on March 19 when it takes on Grinnell College in a
match in Orlando, Florida.
Received on Sun Mar 11 00:38:17 2012