By Gina de Haan
The Calvin women's basketball team set a new school record for wins in a season by defeating University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 91-71 Saturday evening, earning its 29th victory on the year. With this win, the Knights advance to the Round of 16 in the NCAA III Tournament. Calvin will take on DePauw University in a Round of 16 game next Friday night at a site to be determined.
This victory allowed the Knights to advance to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament where they would match up against the Titans of UW-Oshkosh, Coach Ross' alma mater where he earned his undergraduate degree and played on the school's men's tennis team. Prior to coaching at Calvin, Ross served one year as a volunteer assistant coach with the women's basketball team at UW-Oshkosh.
The Titans defeated North Central 87-82 in the first of the two games on Friday night.
This contest served as the fourth meeting between Calvin and UW-Oshkosh in a series that dates back to the 1973-74 season and sees Calvin holding a 2-1 series lead.
Similar to Friday night's game, the Knight came out of the gate strong. Although it was Alex Richard of Oshkosh who scored the first bucket of the game, Calvin's senior guard Kayla Engelhard soon took over. Engelhard scored the Knights' first nine points, scoring on all four shots she took (4-4 FG, 1-1 3-point). Senior Breanna Verkaik contributed to the effort, hitting a three-point basket to put the Knights up 12-4 at the 16:28 mark. UW-Oshkosh then called a timeout in an attempt to halt Calvin's early momentum.
The Titans got into rhythm, reducing Calvin's lead to two points, but a bucket from Breanna Verkaik, six consecutive points by senior forward Hannah Acre, plus another made jumper by Engelhard brought the Knights' lead back to eight (26-18).
The Knights slowly built their lead for the remainder of the half, giving themselves a 14-point advantage with just under four minutes to play in the half off a triple by Engelhard. After a layup by Breanna Verkaik in the final seconds of the half, Calvin held a 45-35 lead over the visiting Titans heading into the break.
Englehard racked up 16 points in the first half, also dishing out eight assists.
The Knights went 20-33 from the floor (60.6%) and 4-6 from three-point range. Calvin scored 15 of its first half points off of UW-Oshkosh's nine turnovers.
In the second half, the Knights outscored the Titans by ten once again.
The two teams went back-and-forth in scoring for the first five minutes. At the 15:00 mark, Breanna Verkaik was fouled and knocked down both her free throws to give her team a 54-43 advantage. Engelhard and sophomore forward Anna Timmer proceeded to score two points apiece. The Titan's Marissa Selner scored in the paint, but ten seconds later Breanna Verkaik drained a three. The scoreboard now read 61-45 in Calvin's favor with 13:18 remaining in the contest,
With the midpoint of the second half approaching and the score 64-49, the Knights made their move and pulled away. Timmer hit junior guard Abby Springer in stride with a chest pass. Junior guard Kally Verkaik followed, scoring in the paint off a pass from her sister Breanna. Despite a Titan timeout, the Verkaik sisters connected once again, but this time it was Breanna who finished down low, the assist courtesy Kally. Timmer then converted on a three-point play to put the Knights up by 24 (73-49), Calvin's largest lead of the game, with just under ten minutes of play left.
The Titans outscored the Knights 22-18 in the remainder of the contest, but it was not enough to compensate for Calvin's demanding lead.
UW-Oshkosh ended its season with an overall record of 23-7, while the Knights maintain their perfect record, improving to 29-0 on the year, and moving themselves one step closer to the NCAA III Finals.
"They're a really good team who's undefeated for a reason," said UW-Oshkosh head coach Brad Fischer, the third consecutive coach who made note of this accomplishment of Calvin's.
Kayla Engelhard led all players with 28 points and nine assists. Breanna Verkaik came in with 18 points and three blocks. Anna Timmer was one rebound away from a double-double, finishing with 16 points and nine boards. Hannah Acre had another solid tournament game, contributing 14 points in the victory. Kally Verkaik had eight point, four assists, and two blocks while Abby Springer dished out five assists.
As a team, the Knights had 29 assists.
Taylor Schmidt led UW-Oshkosh with 16 points. Marissa Selner finished with 12 and Katelyn Kuehl 10.
With her 28 points, Engelhard moved past Pam Wubben and into 11th place on the Calvin career scoring list, boosting her career total to 1,111 points.
Calvin advances to the Round of 16 for the fourth time under the direction of head coach John Ross. Calvin's game against DePauw next Friday will feature the third meeting between the two teams in NCAA III Tournament competition. Calvin defeated DePauw in a 2005 NCAA III Tournament second round game while DePauw defeated Calvin in the 2007 NCAA III Quarterfinals.
DePauw defeated Maryville (Tenn.) 76-53 Friday night shooting 51 percent from the floor and hitting 13 three-pointers.