The Hope College women's basketball team continued its impressive start to the 2023-24 season Friday night with a 94-56 victory over John Carroll (Ohio) University in the opening game of a four-team weekend tournament.
The nationally-ranked Flying Dutch, now 3-0 on the season, will take on Illinois Wesleyan University in the tournament championship game on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 2:30 p.m. at DeVos Fieldhouse.
In Friday's second game, Illinois Wesleyan overcame an 18-point first half deficit to defeat the University of Puget Sound (Washington), 78-77. Friday's games were played at West Ottawa High School because DeVos Fieldhouse was hosting an NCAA Division III volleyball regional.
"I thought we shot the ball really well in the first half," head coach Brian Morehouse said. "We asked them to do a few things, and I thought that they were super-coachable. For a young team, it's sometimes hard to apply what the coach wants, and once the game starts to be played, put it into motion.
"But we got to the rim a lot today, which was our big goal, and I thought we really communicated well on the defensive end, and on the offensive end followed the scouting report. You just see the growth (of this team)."
Hope seized control early, holding the Blue Streaks scoreless for a six-and-a-half minute stretch of the first quarter. The Flying Dutch ran off 16 unanswered points to take a 20-2 lead.
"That was a Hope College run. That's awesome that we could do that. I think it happened on the defensive end in a big way," Morehouse said.
The Flying Dutch held John Carroll to 20% shooting during the first quarter (3 of 15) in building a 22-6 lead after the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Flying Dutch had another 16-0 run that included eight points by sophomore guard Lauren Leach (Angola, Indiana/Angola) and six by sophomore forward Sydney Vis (Byron Center, Michigan/Grand Rapids South Christian). Hope shot 50 percent for the half (20 of 40) in building a 53-18 halftime lead.
The Flying Dutch led by as many as 52 points in the second half. Hope finished the game shooting 48.6 percent from the field (35 of 72), including 12 of 26 from 3-point range. The Flying Dutch also outrebounded the Blue Streaks 47-36 and forced 22 John Carroll turnovers.
Vis led three Hope players in double figures with 16 points. Junior guard Olivia Bellows (Lake City, Michigan/Lake City) added 13 points off the bench, including three 3-point baskets, and Leach chipped in 10 points.
"I think Bellows has shown really good leadership in that second group. She's making other people better with her drive and her patience," Morehouse said. "I think that Vis has got some stuff going with the first group. Her defense has vastly improved from last year. Last year, we didn't play her as much as I think we would have liked because she wasn't in condition and wasn't playing defense like she could. She worked really hard on that all summer long and all fall, and it's nice to see hard work pay off."
Junior Hannah Kurncz (DeWitt, Michigan/DeWitt) grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists for Hope.
Junior center Courtney Lee (Fishers, Indiana/Indianapolis Heritage Christian) pulled down seven boards