Ella McKinney tenderly took each step before she stepped onto the court for a nationally-ranked showdown in The Rivalry.
Once the game tipped off on Wednesday, the senior guard shifted into game mode and made a challenging 24 hours a rewarding one. McKinney scored a game-high 22 points to lead the top-ranked Hope College women's basketball team to a 62-56 victory at Calvin University.
The Flying Dutch won their MIAA opener and extended their program-best winning streak vs. Calvin to 15 games. Hope (6-0) also handed the Knights (No. 15 D3hoops/No. 20 WBCA) their first loss in six games this season.
On Tuesday, McKinney sprained her ankle 15 minutes into practice and sat the remainder of the workout. On Wednesday, McKinney was late to shootaround at DeVos Fieldhouse because she first had to complete an interview with the University of Michigan Dental School.
"It's been quite a whirlwind," said McKinney, a biology major from Haslett, Michigan (Haslett HS). "You just have to fight through. Having the interview was really stressful, but you just have to take one step at a time."
Despite everything thrown at her, McKinney played 30 minutes and doubled her previous best scoring output against Calvin of 11 points despite shooting 9-of-22 from the field. McKinney buried two of Hope's four 3-pointers.
In the first half, McKinney netted 17 points to stake the Flying Dutch to a 38-32 halftime lead. Hope never relinquished the lead.
Head coach Brian Morehouse was proud of McKinney's resilience, particularly balancing a dental school interview with a big basketball game.
"I have watched players go through that before and tough it is mentally. When you are interviewing, your future is in someone's hands," Morehouse said. "The emotional stress is there, but in the first half she said 'I got you'. We rode her through the end of the half. She was unbelievable."
McKinney and her teammates cut Calvin's lead in the all-time series to 71-61. They also denied the Knights their first win in The Rivalry since the 2017 MIAA Tournament semifinal at Trine University.
A game that opened with 43 combined first-quarter points settled into a defensive battle. Hope shot a season-low 28.4 percent from the field (21-74) but held Calvin to 37.3 percent (22-59).
While Calvin blocked 14 Hope shots, Hope outrebounded the Knights by a 50-44 margin. All eight Flying Dutch who played grabbed at least two rebounds. Senior forward Savannah Feenstra (Osceola, Indiana / Northwood) pulled down a team-best nine of them to go along with a career-high 20 points and three steals.
Feenstra's final rebound came on the offensive glass with 52 seconds remaining. Feenstra was fouled and suffered a leg cramp, but sank free throws to push the Flying Dutch lead to 59-52. Hope made four more free throws to close out the game.
"Coach said rebounds were going to win the game. I don't know what I was going to do when I got the ball, but I knew that I had to get the ball," Feenstra said. "The last one, I cramped up pretty bad. It was a moment I didn't want to come out of the game. I wanted to hit those free throws."
Senior forward Claire Baguley (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Central) also finished in double figures with 11 points for the Flying Dutch.
Calvin forward Gabby Timmer and guard Sydney Cleary topped Calvin with 14 points apiece. Timmer also collected 18 rebounds and blocked nine shots.
"Facing Calvin on the road, those are memorable games," Morehouse said. "You gotta figure this is two Top 10 teams. Just because they started the year unranked is the only reason (they are not ranked higher. We were super competitive on the defensive end, and we won it on the boards. It certainly wasn't on the shooting."
Hope's next game is Saturday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m. against Wittenberg University (Ohio) at DeVos Fieldhouse.