by Eva Dean Folkert
Many college basketball teams are happy to score 70 points in a game. The Hope College women's basketball team scored that many in a half.
Many college basketball teams are happy to reach the century mark once in a season. The Hope College women's basketball team surpassed 100 points two games in a row.
One of those achievements (consecutive 100-point games) was a first while the other was just downright impressive (70 points in a half) for the Flying Dutch on Tuesday. With another high-powered performance on the road, Hope overwhelmed the Comets, 113-53, in the two teams' official MIAA opener.
The win gives Hope an overall record of 7-0, 1-0 in the league. It was also the Flying Dutch's 36th victory in a row.
Olivet is 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA.
Coming off a 111-point game at Kalamazoo College on Saturday in which they recorded their largest margin of victory ever as well (81 points), the Flying Dutch now have 27 100-point games in program history. They also have two of the top-10 highest-scoring games in NCAA Division III this season.
How did they do it this time? By shooting a remarkable 68.3% from the field in the first half and 60.6% for the game. By rebounding twice as much as their opponent (50-25). And by sharing the ball enough to create well-orchestrated touches in the paint, many the result of speedy transition off of defensive rebounds or steals.
Like when senior guard Lauren Newman, pictured right, was responsible for setting up six fast-break points near the end of the second quarter. Within a span of 39 seconds, Newman turned a defensive rebound into a layup for senior center Olivia Voskuil; a steal into another layup for senior guard Sydney Muller; and, another steal into an Olivet foul that sent her to the line to make two free throws.
And off went the Flying Dutch into halftime leading, 70-23.
"We really think it's important to get the ball 'to be in the paint' as we say," explained head coach Brian Morehouse. "And it's not just on what you would call traditional post touches. We really emphasize driving the ball into the paint and then finding people out of it. For example, in the second quarter, we had 22 possessions and 21 of them had a paint touch."
The second half was more of the same as the first — proficient offense and clamp-down defense that clogged up Olivet's passing lanes on multiple occasions.
"I thought we were really in the right place on defense tonight," Morehouse added. "And when you're in the right place, the ball kind of finds you on defense instead of you having to go find the ball."
Voskuil recorded her first double-double of the season at Olivet. The senior from Holland (Holland Christian HS) scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Five more Flying Dutch scored in double figures: Muller recorded 15 points; Newman and sophomore Ella McKinney had 13 each; and, sophomore Claire Baguley and junior Hannah Smith with 12 each.
"We have a lot of kids who are good offensive players in our program right now," said Morehouse. "And that depth goes way past our starting lineup. We go really deep into our roster with shot makers, and I think that's what leads to all the efficiency that we're seeing."
Hope now returns home to DeVos Fieldhouse. The Flying Dutch will play Adrian College on Thursday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.