CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 4, 2013 (Part Two)
Women's Basketball Picks up 77-69 Conference Win Over Albion
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 77, Albion 69
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin women's basketball team returned to conference play on Wednesday evening, hosting the Britons of Albion at Van Noord Arena. The game was the MIAA opener for the Britons, while Calvin came in with an 0-1 conference mark. Both teams entered the contest with 3-2 overall records.
Calvin, after leading by two at halftime, opened up a 24 point margin in the second half and coasted to a 77-69 win.
The Knights got off to a fast start, hitting their opening three shots to take a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in.
Calvin continued to hold the lead, going up 15-8 with 13:38 remaining in the first half.
A 9-0 for the Britons then gave Albion a 17-15 lead, forcing a timeout from Calvin head coach John Ross.
The Knights responded with a 7-0 run of their own, including five points from junior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS).
Albion closed the deficit to one on multiple occasions, but Calvin held the lead for the remainder of the first half, taking a 33-31 lead into halftime.
The Knights played very well out of break, again opening with seven straight points to take a 40-31 lead.
The Britons cut the Calvin lead to five at 43-38, but ten straight by the Knights opened up a 53-38 lead and Calvin did not look back.
The Knights saw their largest lead of the game at 75-51 on a layup from junior Hannah Acre (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) with 3:50 remaining, and Calvin closed out the 77-69 victory.
Junior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) led the Knights with 15 points while Verkaik had 14 points and eight assists. Acre added a career high 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting while junior Abby VanderWoude (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) had 10 points and six rebounds.
Brett DeBear paced Albion with a game-high 20 points while Miranda Bates scored 12.
"Albion took us out of our defensive game, their point guards were too quick so we just couldn't press them," said Ross. "We made a few changes defensively in the second half. If we're going to be good, the people off the bench have to come in and do a great job and we got that in the second half tonight."
Calvin moves to 4-2 and 1-1 in conference play with the win, while Albion falls to 3-3. Calvin is now 7-0 all-time against Albion at Van Noord Arena.
The Knights now look forward to Saturday when they will travel to Trine to face the Thunder. Saturday's contest will start at 3 p.m.
Received on Wed Dec 4 23:45:26 2013
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