For the sixth consecutive season, Hope College will play in the championship game of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association women's basketball tournament.

But it wasn't easy Friday night at DeVos Fieldhouse, as the top-seeded Flying Dutch gutted out a hard-fought 58-53 tournament semifinal win over fourth-seeded Albion College to advance to Saturday night's 7:30 p.m. championship game. Hope will face second seed Trine University, who defeated No. 3 Calvin University 66-61 in Friday's first semifinal game.

Seventh-ranked Hope shot only 30.5 percent from the field for the game (18 of 59), well below their NCAA Division III-best of 49 percent entering the game. But the Flying Dutch cashed in at the free throw line, sinking 17 of 23 from the stripe compared to Albion's 8 of 11.

"I think we did a good job of getting the ball to the rim, which then forced them to commit fouls, which then got us to the free throw line," Hope coach Brian Morehouse said. "We got there because we were really, really resilient, to keep getting the ball to the rim."

Hope held Albion scoreless for more than four minutes to start the game, scoring the first six points and holding the lead the entire first half. But the Britons kept it close and trailed only 24-22 at halftime.

The Britons took their first lead of the game at 26-24 early in the third quarter on a jumper on Cierra Cole. The lead changed hands several times in the first four minutes of the period before sophomore guard Jada Garner of Midland, Michigan (Midland Dow) hit a 3-point basket and added an old-school 3-point play on back-to-back possessions to give Hope a 33-29 lead.

Later, the Flying Dutch went on a 14-4 run, capped by two free throws by senior guard Ella McKinney of Haslett, Michigan (Haslett) to take their first double-digit lead at 50-40 with 7:33 remaining. McKinney scored eight consecutive points for the Flying Dutch in the fourth quarter as she finished the contest with a game-high 17 points.

Albion pulled to within five at 56-51 on a Becca Ross 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining, but Hope would not let the Britons score again until the game's final few seconds, forcing five straight missed shots. Meanwhile, McKinney and senior guard Meg Morehouse of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East) each sank a free throw in the final moments to seal Hope's 24^th win against two losses on the season.

Hope limited Albion to 31 percent shooting from the field (20 of 64), including 5 of 20 from 3-point range.

"I think a lot of that's experience, and I think the experience and the calm of the seniors carried over to our younger players," Brian Morehouse said.

McKinney added eight rebounds and three steals to her 17 points. Meg Morehouse, who earlier in the day was named the MIAA's Defensive Player of the Year, chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds. Senior center Savannah

Feenstra of Osceola, Indiana (NorthWood) battled foul trouble all night but picked up four steals and caused several more turnovers while fronting Albion's All-MIAA center Daniah Beavers.

Lolo Reed led Albion (17-10) with 16 points while Beavers added 15 points and 10 rebounds.