Kayla Engelhard was drawn to Calvin by the family atmosphere. The rivalry was a nice added benefit. Calvin athletics photo

When asked about their first experience of playing in the best Division III women’s rivalry in the country, Calvin-Hope, student-athletes from each school had similar experiences.

“It was terrifying,” Hope senior forward Hannah Doell said.

“I remember being scared out of my mind,” Calvin senior guard Kayla Engelhard said.

Played before large and energetic crowds that usually draw three times more fans than a mid-major Division I men’s basketball game, the Hope-Calvin contest is unlike anything in college basketball. The schools, located about 35 miles from one another in Michigan, are similar (though definitely not identical) in their Christian-based philosophy, strong academic offerings and high-level of basketball.

Hope is in Holland, a coastal city near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Meanwhile Grand Rapids, where Calvin is located, is the second largest city in Michigan.

The first time this rivalry was described by a fan to D3hoops.com, back in the late ’90s, a Hope alumnus said, “It’s not just basketball; it’s religious warfare.”

“There’s a great amount of respect for each other when the game is done and a healthy dislike during the game,” Hope head women’s basketball coach Brian Morehouse said. “You want to beat each other so bad that the games are incredibly fun to play. It’s something special to be a part of. I wouldn’t trade this for any rivalry in Division III, Division II and I would argue that it is as good as anything in Division I.”

For Doell and Englehard, their final regular season matchup will occur on Feb. 18 at Calvin’s VanNoord Arena. Of course, they could meet in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title game and in the NCAA Tournament. Add in the fact that both teams are nationally ranked as Calvin (22-0) is ranked sixth and Hope is 13th in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Calvin is also one of four undefeated women’s teams still remaining this season.

“I have been fortunate to be part of this rivalry,” Morehouse said. “It’s a lot of fun because you’re coaching against kids you recruited. Plus (Calvin head coach) John Ross is a very good coach and we’ve gotten to know each other well. It’s a respectful game and a game of passion. It’s honestly, one of the great reasons to go to either Hope or Calvin. This is a really unique rivalry. The amount of passion that’s blowing through the bodies of the players is unbelievable. You see kids do stuff that they don’t normally do. You see crazy things happen.”

In the first matchup in January, Calvin edged Hope, 76-74, following a crazy ending that featured a pair of lead changes (each team traded ‘and-ones’) in the final 10 seconds. Calvin ultimately prevailed following a layup from senior Hannah Acre, which answered Hope’s Brittany Berry’s old-fashioned 3-point play with nine seconds remaining.

The tough ending has Hope looking forward to next week’s contest.

“It’s such a fun rivalry,” Berry said. “It’s awesome because for both teams we have a great fan following and the atmosphere for a women’s sport is incredible. It’s different than any other game of the year. The Hope-Calvin rivalry is special. Before every game against Calvin, I am always feeling nervous, anxious and excited.”

Calvin and Hope players battle for a loose ball in this year's first meeting. Hope photo by Rob Kurtycz

Thanks to the website www.calvinhope.com, fans can find a treasure trove of information, statistics and unique nuggets on the Calvin-Hope series. Close games are usually the norm between these two teams as 27 of them have been decided by five or fewer points with Calvin holding a 16-11 advantage in those games. In one-point games Calvin leads 3-0 (59-58 in 1981, 61-60 in 1984 and 56-55 in 2011). Through 49 years and 111 games, Calvin leads the series 67-44.

While the men’s rivalry is better known, and drew a Division III-record 11,442 fans to a game in the late 1990s, the Hope-Calvin women's basketball rivalry has been just as strong, and long lasting by women’s basketball standards. It started in 1965 with a 49-35 Calvin victory. The basketball world hasn’t been the same since. The teams have combined to win 28 MIAA championships through 2013-14, 14 by each team. In addition, Hope and Calvin have been to the NCAA Tournament a combined 28 times.

Growing up in Michigan, many people are familiar with the rivalry. Sometimes, it crosses friendly and family lines. Many of Engelhard’s friends and her high school guidance counselors’ son went to Hope. She developed a love for the sport of basketball by watching her friend, who of course, went to Hope.

“You try to treat it like it’s a normal game,” Engelhard said. “I don’t know how to describe the rivalry in words. I learned about it when I got to Calvin. There was a family friend that played for the Hope men and I knew more about Hope than Calvin when I was in high school. I didn’t understand the enormity of it until I got here.”

Meanwhile, Berry grew up not too far from Calvin’s campus. Most of her family lives in Grand Rapids. Of course, for Doell, a Pennsylvania native from the Lehigh Valley near Allentown, the only rivalry she may have been familiar with growing up was probably Eagles-Cowboys or Lehigh-Lafayette.

“I knew absolutely nothing about the Hope-Calvin rivalry in high school,” Doell said. “Honestly, I didn’t know about Hope at home. When I came here on my visit, I briefly heard about the rivalry from the players who were here. To know I was going to experience that type of environment and play meaningful games against Calvin was a fun thing about coming to Hope.”

On the surface, the seasons have been business as usual for programs accustomed to excellence. They are a combined 42-2 overall. Yet, each team has had to navigate its share of obstacles to reach this point of the season.

Calvin’s success has been fueled by a balanced attack featuring four players averaging double figures including Breanna Verkaik, who leads the team with a 14.3 point per game average. She also leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage, converting 50 percent (43 of 86) of her three-point attempts. Also averaging double figures for the Knights are Engelhard (12.6 points), Anna Timmer (10.3) and Acre (10.0).

One key component to Calvin’s perfect record thus far has been its high-octane offense that averages 80.4 points per game and defensive havoc caused by its incessant pressure. Calvin has won 21 of its 22 games by double digits including Wednesday’s 76-38 victory over Alma that tied the programs longest winning streak, which was established by the 1995-96 team.

Off to its best start in school history, Calvin is ranked first nationally in assists per game (20.8) and is second in scoring margin (25.7). The Knights are also fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.32) and three-pointers made per game (9.1) as well as seventh in scoring offense.

Things weren’t always this smooth and easy for Calvin. The Knights had difficulties adjusting to Ross’ new defensive system last season and endured a season in which they won just 19 games, what passes for a down year for Calvin of late.

“We love to push the ball and make teams play quick,” Engelhard said. “We share the ball and everybody contributes. It was tough at first going to a new system because we knew we were taking a risk with a new offense and defense. We knew we had a smaller and quicker team, which catered to that style of play for us. Last season was definitely a growing and learning experience. Plus it was frustrating at times.”

Meanwhile Hope has had to make adjustments on the fly because of injuries to key people even before the season started. Morehouse started moving players around like he was playing chess. Many of the moves have worked out well especially shifting Kamara Sudberry from the post to the point guard. Hope hasn’t missed a beat.

Like Calvin, Hope is balanced led by Maura McAfee’s 15.4 point-per-game and 9.8 rebound-per-game average. McAfee has 12 double-doubles on the season. Rebekah Liorens scores at a 10.7 point per game clip.

A human handcuff, Berry has 210 career 3-pointers in her career for Hope. She is one triple shy of passing Nicki Mannes’ single-season school record and nine from surpassing Jordyn Boles’ career mark.

“We’ve had to make adjustments and play with a lot of different lineups than expected this year,” Morehouse said. “Definitely not the way I drew it up in July. However, I am extremely excited about this team and they have been awesome.”

Brittany Berry is on the verge of setting Hope's single season and career 3-point mark. Hope photo by Rob Kurtycz

No matter which side of the rivalry the student-athletes are on, they are all bonded by being part of a special collegiate experience.  Wednesday’s game will be bittersweet for all the seniors involved. The final regular season game against each other also signals the beginning of the end of their collegiate careers.

Berry is majoring in business management and sociology. She wants to stay involved in sports. Engelhard is majoring in exercise science kinesiology and has aspirations of becoming a collegiate strength and conditioning coach. Doell is majoring in nursing and is looking forward to working in pediatric medicine in the future.

The relationships with the alumni and current team members keep the pride of this rivalry burning bright. Berry had dinner Tuesday night with a former player. Engelhard was attracted to Calvin by its family atmosphere.

“When I came here for my visit, what stuck out for me were the relationships,” Engelhard said. “The relationships the players built with each other lasted even after they graduated. Being able to build relationships on and off the court is something that I’ve been blessed to do. People who I played with my freshman year who were seniors, still come back to visit us and watch practice.”

Both teams should be in good shape to receive a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, a place where neither team has ever met one another. A Hope-Calvin matchup in the NCAAs would be the second best ending to Engelhard, Berry and Doell’s careers. Of course, a national title would be the perfect finish.

“I really think at times we take playing basketball and this particular game for granted,” Doell said. “We’re always feeling a lot of things leading into the game like being nervous, excited, and restless that a lot of times we forget to feel thankful and live in the moment. We talked to the seniors who graduated from here and they wish we could have it back. I remember every specific game against Calvin. It’s something different about that one particular game and you won’t really feel it until you’ve played in it, graduated and moved on.”

Eastern rising

Partly because its campus is secluded in the Delaware County suburb of Wayne, which is outside of Philadelphia, the Eastern women’s basketball program has been quietly building a quality product that would rank among the nation’s elite.

Just picture Eastern head coach Nate Davis in his basement like a mad scientist stockpiling talented players and molding them into a force capable of conquering anybody the Eagles take the court against. In five seasons under Davis, the Eagles have had four winning seasons and won 74 games. In the 18 years prior, Eastern had two winning seasons.

Davis always believed he could concoct a winning program at Eastern.

“Since I took the job here, I’ve been pretty unwavering that we could accomplish this,” Davis said. “I believed it was going to happen and I knew it was a tough situation when I started here, but I knew it could be done. We just had to have the right attitude and work hard.”

Saturday afternoon, Davis displayed his creation for the world to take notice as Eastern pulled off the biggest victory in program history by defeating previously top-ranked and reigning national champion FDU-Florham, 88-87, in an instant overtime classic. Eastern also ended FDU-Florham’s 53-game winning streak.

Everybody had a hand in the win over the Devils. Meghan Nowak was a beast with 24 points, 13 rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals. Sophomore Emily Lavin had 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Seniors Gina DiDomenico had 17 points and Kaitlyn Dougherty added 15 points for the Eagles. Freshman guard Taylor Price got in on the fun with 13 points.

The result sent shockwaves across the Division III landscape and validated the quality of basketball in the Freedom Conference. With Eastern earning its first national ranking in school history in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25 poll at No. 24, the Freedom Conference has two teams ranked in the Top 25. Although Delaware Valley and DeSales aren’t nationally-ranked, they have been formidable programs as well.

“Beating FDU-Florham was good and a big win for us,” Davis said. “It was good for the ladies to get the validation of the work they put into the season so far. The players believed that becoming a nationally-ranked team could be done. We felt good about this year. I told the team that every year is there year to make the most of it. This is their opportunity to make it happen.”

It’s clear that Eastern is in the midst of a special season. After defeating Wilkes, 70-50, on Wednesday, Eastern set a new program record for wins in a season with 18.

Nowak was named the United States Basketball Writers Association national player of the week as she averaged 23.5 points per game and 14.5 rebounds last week. She has 12 double-doubles this season and 42 in her storied career. Nowak also leads the Freedom Conference in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game.

“Meghan as a person has had a huge impact,” Davis said. “She’s a great teammate to have and very unselfish. She doesn’t like having the spotlight on her and doesn’t seek it. She’s very humble and is consistent day in and day out. She’s consistently good and that helped us raise the level of the program.”

Eastern’s success this season has been no accident. The Eagles challenged themselves and according to the NCAA, have played the 20th-toughest schedule in Division III. An arduous slate that included an exhibition against Division I UMBC as well as non-conference games against Scranton, Cabrini and Williams prepared the Eagles for their moment against FDU-Florham.

“Coach gave us a tough schedule with the tournaments we were in this season,” Nowak said. “We lost to good teams and we wished we could’ve won. We were able to compete with many of them and that showed us that we’re as good as anybody out there. At this point, we want to move past the big win and focus on the importance of each game.”

Help me

I am serving as the national columnist this season for D3hoops.com. Please add me to your email list for postgame press releases and press releases at rob.knox@d3hoops.com. Also feel free to follow me on twitter @knoxrob1.