ANGOLA, Ind. – The streak is over for the Calvin women's basketball team and with it is an opportunity to play for an MIAA Tournament Championship title and a bid to the NCAA III Tournament.

The Knights pushed all their marbles to the center and hit big with a 66-62 upset victory over No. 19 Hope College Friday night in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals. The victory snapped a 20-game losing streak by Calvin to its chief rivals, dating back to 2017. Ironically, Calvin's last victory over Hope in women's basketball came in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals at Trine – site of this weekend's tournament play.

Calvin (17-10) advances to the MIAA Tournament Championship game Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against host Trine with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. Trine was a 61-34 winner over Albion in Friday's second semifinal contest.

In its victory over Hope (21-4), Calvin rode the hot hand of sophomore Hannah Sall who pumped in 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting to go with eight blocked shots and four rebounds. Junior Anna Fernadez had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Katelyn LaRue tossed in 12 points to go with three steals.

Calvin used a torrid first quarter start to force Hope to chase the game. The Knights held a 24-12 lead after one quarter of play, shooting 47 percent from the field and 60 percent from the three-point line. A layup by senior Valerie Dirkse gave the Knights a 28-12 second quarter lead. Hope whittled the lead down to 11 at 31-20 but the Knights scored seven unanswered points capped off by a three-point from Fernandez to build a 38-20 advantage. A triple by Hope's Anna Richards brought the score to 38-23 at half.

The Flying Dutch then went on a run of their own in the third quarter, outscoring the Knights 23-12 in the third quarter, matching their first half point total in one quarter of play. Hope crept all the way within two at 48-46 before an off-balance layup by Calvin sophomore Chloe Wiegers put the Knights up 50-46 heading into the final quarter of play.

Calvin never trailed in the fourth quarter although Hope clawed to within one on two occasions – the first at 56-55 and the second at 58-57. Hannah Sall delivered a clutch jump shot from the left side of the free throw line with 2:20 left to make it 60-57. Hope got back to within two at 61-59 with 34 seconds left. After being fouled, Dirkse swished a free throw for the Knights and after missing her second toss, grabbed her own rebound and got a timeout to hold on to the possession. Hope was forced to foul Wiegers out of the timeout and she delivered two clutch free throws to give Calvin a 64-59 lead. Hope's Maddie Petroelje connected on a triple to make it a 64-62 game with 13 seconds left but Wiegers answered with two more clutch free throws to put the Knights up four at 66-62. Hope attempted a three-point shot in the closing seconds which was fittingly blocked by Hannah Sall, allowing the Knights to claim the win.

Calvin blocked 12 shots in the game and collected eight steals with LaRue credited with three of the eight swipes. Dirkse had two blocked shots, a steal, seven rebounds and three points. Senior Sally Merrill delivered in a pinch with six key bench points while blocking one Hope shot. Senior Sophie Sensenig had one blocked shot as well for Calvin.

Anna Richards had 15 points in a losing effort for Hope. Jada Garner and Olivia Bellows had 11 points apiece.