Call them the avengers.
For the second time in four days, the nationally-ranked Hope College women's basketball team paid back an opponent for a loss earlier this season with a commanding performance.
On Saturday, the Flying Dutch — No. 7 WBCA/No. 8 D3hoops — rolled to a 78-49 victory against Albion College in front of a DeVos Fieldhouse crowd of 1,533. The win came two weeks after Hope lost, 69-53, at Albion.
On Wednesday, the Flying Dutch won at nationally-ranked Trine University, 83-69, after losing to the Thunder in December at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Head coach Morehouse credited his team for embracing this week's challenges and opportunities.
"It was redemption week, also really just 'get better' week," Morehouse said. "We didn't play very well down at Albion, a super tough place to play. We've gotten significantly better in two weeks. We've had to make some coaching changes — decisions, playing styles, those types of things — that are pretty significant.
"The team bought into them, and I thought they really paid off this week in the form of better defense, better offense. That's a credit to our kids for accepting change and being able to apply it."
With both wins, Hope improved to 18-2 overall and 9-2 overall. On a four-game winning streak, the Flying Dutch remain a half-game behind Trine, a 71-39 winner at Olivet College on Saturday.
Trine will pull even in games played on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Hope's next game is Saturday, Feb. 4, at 3 p.m. at Saint Mary's College.
On January 14 at Albion, the Flying Dutch shot a season-low 27.3% and recorded a season-low in points.
After falling behind 4-0 less than two minutes in, Hope raced to a 19-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. Six points on two 3-pointers from freshman guard Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, Illinois / Prairie Ridge) led the charge.
In the second quarter, the Flying Dutch broke open the game by shooting 75% percent from the field (9-12). Hope led, 47-26, at halftime.
The Flying Dutch finished the game shooting 45.2% from the field (28-62) and 45.5% from 3-point range (10-22).
Senior forward Savannah Feenstra (Osceola, Indiana / NorthWood) netted a game-high 17 points for Hope along with six rebounds.
Senior forward Claire Baguley (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Central) chipped in 14 points.
Senior guard Meg Morehouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) collected a game-high nine rebounds, totaled seven points and shared team-high honors with three assists.
Senior guard Ella McKinney (Haslett, Michigan / Haslett) also recorded three assists along with eight rebounds and seven points.
Hope held Albion (12-7, 7-4 MIAA) to 33% field-goal shooting. Guard Cierra Cole topped the Britons with 15 points.