Calvin improved to 14-6 overall and 9-3 in the MIAA with an 87-54 win over Saint Mary's Wednesday evening inside Van Noord Arena. The Knights remain one game behind second place Olivet which improved to 10-2 with a win over Albion Wednesday.
Calvin put together a superb first half in racing out to a 52-22 halftime lead. The Knights shot 61.1 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and connected on six three-pointers. Calvin's full-court press also forced Saint Mary's (6-14 overall, 4-7 MIAA) into committing 13 first half turnovers.
Calvin never looked back from there in coasting to the win.
"I thought our effort in the first half was really good," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "We didn't let up on defense and we had everyone chipping in. It was a team effort and that's what we need the rest of the way."
Junior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had a game-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds and two assists. Junior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) had 14 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Nine of her points came in the first half. Freshman Anna Timmer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) added 11 points off the bench while senior Kirstin Tripp (Brighton/Brighton HS) had eight points including a pair of first half triples.
As a team, Calvin finished the game with a 57.8 percent field goal clip and connected on 9-of-21 from three-point range (.429).
Saint Mary's was led in defeat by Krista Knapke with 11 points while Shanlynn Bias and Ariana Paul had 10 points apiece.
Calvin is back in action on Saturday, traveling to Alma for a 3 p.m. contest.