WHITEWATER, Wisc. – Calvin upset fourth-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater 66-64 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 5-0 on the season.
The victory marks Calvin's second win over a top-10 nationally-ranked opponent in less than a year as the Knights also claimed a 61-49 win over (then) No. 8 UW-Eau Claire last December 29th.
Calvin used clutch three-point shooting by senior guard Sydney Cleary (Middleville, Mich./South Christian HS) and strong defensive play around the rim in the closing minutes to claim the win.
Cleary connected on her second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter with 1:34 remaining, giving Calvin a 62-61 lead.
Whitewater (5-1) had a chance to regain the lead but had a shot at the basket blocked by Calvin senior Gabby Timmer with 21 seconds remaining. After a Calvin turnover, the Warhawks had another chance but missed a contested layup with 12 seconds remaining with Calvin senior Leah Harris grabbing the rebound and going to the free throw line after she was fouled.
Harris calmly nailed two clutch free throws to give the Knights a 64-61 advantage.
Whitewater had a 3-point shot to tie, but the attempt was short. Calvin grabbed the rebound and senior Sara Nealy connected on two huge free throws with five seconds remaining to seal the win.
Calvin jumped out to a 19-13 first quarter lead but trailed 34-31 at halftime.
The Knights maintained tight contact with Whitewater throughout the third quarter and trailed just 48-47 head into the final period of play.
Calvin took its first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer by Cleary, giving the Knights a 57-55 lead with 4:42 remaining.
The Warhawks tied the game at 57 on a layup with 3:22 remaining but Cleary responded with a left-handed layup with time ticking down on the shot clock to put the Knights up 59-57 with 2:48 remaining.
Whitewater answered with four unanswered points to take a 61-59 lead with 1:50 remaining before Cleary drained her clutch triple from the left side at the 1:34 mark to keep Calvin up for good.
Timmer led the Knights with 17 points and 11 rebounds to notch her 37th collegiate double-double.
Harris had 16 points and six boards while Cleary tallied 15 points and three assists.
Sophomore Valerie Dirkse had four points and 10 rebounds. Freshman RyAnn Rohrer came up big with seven points and five assists off the bench.
The Knights shot 48.9 percent from the field while holding Whitewater to 39.1 percent field goal shooting. Calvin also held a 37-30 rebounding advantage.
Whitewater was led by Kaci Carollo who dropped in a game-high 18 points while Abby Belschner had 14 points and Maggie Trautsch 13 points.