CKSR (Women's Basketball Tops Lewis and Clark/Day Three Women's Basketball Diary from Northern California)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 22, 2014

Women's Basketball Tops Lewis and Clark;
Day Three Women's Basketball Diary From Northern California

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 58, Lewis and Clark 44

SANTA CRUZ, CA - The Calvin women's basketball team remained unbeaten on the 2014-15 season with a 58-44 victory over the Pioneers of Lewis and Clark College Monday afternoon.

Averaging more than 80 points a game heading into Monday's contest, Calvin (8-0) was slowed down by a rugged Lewis and Clark effort as the Pioneers came out aggressively, breaking Calvin's full-court pressure defense and hitting the boards in relentless fashion.

Calvin held a 23-16 first half lead but Lewis and Clark (3-6) closed out the half on a 10-2 run as the Pioneers held Calvin to just one field goal over the final 7:20 of the first half.

Calvin opened the second half on a 14-3 run fueled by six points in the paint by senior Hannah Acre (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) to take a 39-29 lead.

Lewis and Clark closed to within six at 39-33 but Calvin bumped its lead back to double-digits with a quick run capped off by a three-pointer by senior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) that gave the Knights a 50-36 lead with just under six minutes to play.

Calvin cruised from that point on, leading by as many as 18 points before settling on the final margin of victory.

"Give credit to Lewis and Clark for giving us a real battle," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "They've been to a strong run of NCAA III Tournaments over the last five years. They're in a bit of a rebuilding mode but that is also a proud program and they made us work for this one so hats of to Lewis and Clark."

Monday's game was played at the Kaiser Permanente Arena, home of the Santa Cruz Warriors - the D' League affiliate of the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

"It took us some time to get used to the arena," said Ross. "I think our players got a little confused with some of the three-point lines because this is a professional playing surface but once we got the kinks ironed out we were ok."

Calvin was led in scoring by senior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) who tossed in a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Acre was also stellar with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Lewis and Clark was led in scoring by Ayisat Afolabi who collected 11 points and nine rebounds.

Calvin held a 36-31 rebounding advantage but allowed the Pioneers to snare 13 offensive rebounds.

"We have to do a better job of cleaning up the boards," said Ross. "We have a very tough game tomorrow night against a 9-3 UC-Santa Cruz team that is big and athletic. Their three losses this year have all been to high-quality opponents and have come by a combined total of 11 points. We will have our hands full tomorrow."

Calvin's game against the host Banana Slugs on Tuesday is scheduled for a 9 p.m. (EDT) tip time.

MORE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Day 3 California Trip Diary
(Editor's note: The Calvin women's basketball team is currently in Northern California, preparing for a set of games on the campus of UC-Santa Cruz Monday and Tuesday. Team members are providing daily updates from the trip.)
By Calvin College Senior Kayla Engelhard
(Kayla is a native of Unionville, Michigan. She is a graduate of Saginaw Valley Lutheran High School.)
We kicked off day 3 in San Francisco with a delicious homemade breakfast prepared for us by our host families and team devotions at Alameda Christian Church. We then said goodbye to our host families and headed for the city. We caught the ferry to San Francisco where we met up with our families. We also finally met up Coach Ross who arrived from Wisconsin after standing up in his brother's wedding yesterday. We all together hopped on one more ferry headed for the island of Alcatraz. It was a beautiful sunny and clear day, so we had an awesome view of the bridges, the city, and the Alcatraz island!
At Alcatraz we took an audio tour of the former maximum security prison where some of the most dangerous criminals of its time were kept. We saw the cells the prisoners stayed in, the dining hall where they ate, the recreation yard, the warden's office, and the gun gallery designed specifically for high security purposes. It was interesting to learn about the tactics used to detain some of the most hardened criminals and how sometimes even those tactics failed!
After returning to San Francisco from Alcatraz, we got our exercise in for the day by power walking to get a little closer to the Golden Gate Bridge for a sunset picture. We finished our sightseeing in San Francisco off with dinner from local vendors. The weather was perfect for sitting on the city benches, enjoying dinner, and listening to the street performers. We capped off another day full of activities by piling back into our minivans and making the hour-and-a half long trek to Santa Cruz where we will spend the next couple days.
We are excited to get back out on the court again tomorrow when we take on the Pioneers of Lewis and Clark. GAMEDAY! Once again, we cannot express how thankful we are to all of those who have supported us and made this trip possible. We are proud to be a part of Knight Nation!
Go Knights!
Received on Mon Dec 22 23:23:12 2014