Calvin Women's Basketball Defeats Saint Mary's 92-52

Game Leaders

St. Mary's (Ind.)
Pts: Eleni Shea - 16
Reb: Eleni Shea - 7
Ast: 3 Players (#12, #15, #30 - 2)
Calvin
Pts: Anna Timmer - 17
Reb: Anna Timmer - 7
Ast: Mackenzie Shelton - 6

Team Stats

St. Mary's (Ind.)
Calvin

Field Goals

(19-50)
(35-60)

Field Goal %

38.0%
58.3%

Rebounds

30
36

Assists

8
27

Turnovers

32
25

Pts off Turnovers

21
40

2nd Chance Pts

8
14

Pts in the Paint

24
44

Fastbreak Pts

4
14

Bench Pts

12
62
full stats
More news about: Calvin
Jan 14, 2015

By Gina de Haan

On Wednesday evening, the Calvin women's basketball team hosted the Belles of Saint Mary's, the first matchup this season between the two MIAA teams.  The Knights entered the game with a perfect record (12-0 overall, 5-0 conference), and maintained their impressive win streak by defeating the Belles 92-52.

Although it was Saint Mary's who scored first off of a three-point bucket by Maddie Kohler, the Knights maintained their composure and quickly answered. Just over five minutes into the half, Calvin took charge. Layups from Bre Luurtsema and Breanna Verkaik kicked things off for the Knights, putting the home team up 8-7.  Anna Timmer added to the effort, scoring back-to-back layups. Tiffany Karger capped off the Knight's seventeen-point run, sinking three consecutive three-pointers and giving her team a 21-7 lead.

Solid team offense helped the Knights earn the victory. In the first half, the home team shot 19-31 (61.3%) from the floor and 7-12 (58.3%) from three-point range; the Knights were also 6-6 from the free throw line. The Knights headed to the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 51-21 lead.

Anna Timmer was a key first half player for the Knights, contributing thirteen points, 4 rebounds, and a steal; Timmer shot one-hundred-percent from the floor, three-point range, and the line (5-5, 1-1, 2-2).

In the second half, the Knights offense continued to roll, starting the half with a 10-0 run; Calvin controlled play for the remainder of the game.

All fourteen Knights saw the court and all fourteen scored. Anna Timmer finished with seventeen points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Ali Spayde and Breanna Verkaik added ten points apiece, Tiffany Karger scored nine, and Jeana Sybesma finished with eight. Mackenzie Shelton dished out six assists and Kayla Engelhard had five steals. Calvin's bench contributed 62 points to the effort.

Calvin women's head basketball coach, John Ross, was pleased with his team's performance. "They started four posts and we only start one post, so the size differential there was big. They were tall and so much more physical than us, so it was really good to see us get aggressive, get our press going, and really put a lot of pressure on them, and then knock some shots down. Tiffany Karger hit three huge threes for us early, which really helped us a lot."

Ross was also happy with the team effort that the Knights put forth. "It was good to get a lot of our players a lot of minutes tonight. Our starters didn't have to play a lot, so they can get some good rest before Saturday's game."

On Saturday, the Knights will travel to rival school Hope College to take on the Flying Dutch. The Hope women's basketball team is 14-1 overall and the only other MIAA team with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.