Hope College guard Karsen Karlblom picked up two quick fouls eight seconds apart late in the first quarter of Friday night's MIAA women's basketball tournament semifinal. She came out of the ball game and did not return for the rest of the first half.
But when the second half started with the nationally-ranked Flying Dutch tied with Albion College, Karlblom was ready to bounce back from her first-half adversity.
Twelve seconds into the half, Karlblom hit a 3-point shot to give Hope a 38-35 lead. Then about two minutes later, the sophomore from Crystal Lake, Illinois (Prairie Ridge HS) hit another one for the Flying Dutch (No. 7 WBCA/No. 9 D3hoops).
Karlblom started making plays on the defensive side and grabbed a couple of rebounds as well. She ended up scoring all 11 of her points in the second half as the Flying Dutch defeated Albion 78-68 to punch their ticket to the MIAA tournament championship game for the seventh consecutive season.
Hope, now 24-2, will face Trine University for the tournament championship on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. at DeVos Fieldhouse with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament on the line. The Thunder defeated Calvin University 65-55 in Friday's other semifinal.
"Karsen was spectacular in the second half. (She had) a rough first half," head coach Brian Morehouse said. "Karsen loves to play and when she can't be in there playing, it's really hard on her. Her teammates came around her and really surrounded her and encouraged her, and I thought she responded to their encouragement with a great second half."
The teams were tied at 58-all with five minutes remaining, but the Flying Dutch went on a 9-2 run, capped by a Karlblom layup, to take a 67-60 lead with 2:22 left on the clock. Albion got no closer than five points the rest of the way, as Hope hit its final six free throws in the game's last 26 seconds.
Sophomore forward Sydney Vis (Grand Rapids, Michigan/South Christian) had a career-high night in scoring for the Flying Dutch as the All-MIAA First Team forward scored 25 points, including four 3-point baskets.
Vis also grabbed six rebounds, a stat that did not go unnoticed by Coach Morehouse.
"She was great from the get-go. I thought that the best thing that she did tonight was that she didn't force anything. She let the game come to her. She was super-comfortable, super-poised out there," Morehouse said.
Sophomore guard Keegan Kaiser (New Albany, Indiana/Floyd Central) provided a spark offensively for the Flying Dutch in the first half and finished the night with 13 points, five assists and four steals.
Much like the Jan. 24 contest at DeVos where Hope overcame a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to defeat Albion, the Flying Dutch had to battle back from behind in this one. Led by senior center Daniah Beavers, who was spectacular on the boards all night long for Albion, the Britons led 24-14 late in the first quarter. But Hope closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three and get back in the game.
Beavers finished the game with 17 points and 18 rebounds for Albion, 13 of them on the offensive glass.
"We knew this was going to be a really tough game. I will not be sad to see Daniah Beavers graduate. She's so good," Morehouse said. She's so talented, got great touch around the rim. I also think Riley Davis is one of the best players in our league. We did a really nice job on her, and we held Brazyll Watkins under her average. She's a first-team all-league player for a reason."
Watkins, who was one of the leading scorers in the MIAA all season, was limited to 10 points while Davis was held to seven.
"I was happy with our defense. They got off the a blazing start in the first quarter, they're shooting 63 percent (from the field), but after that I thought we settled in and we were much better. I thought we had a really good second half," Morehouse said.