Women’s basketball team falls to No. 3 Calvin, 84-47

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team fell to Calvin College, 84-47, this afternoon at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. The Knights entered the game ranked No. 3 in both the D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 polls.

Calvin led the game from start-to-finish. In the first half, the Knights led by as many as 33 points, 45-12, before settling for a 45-14 lead at the break. In the second half, Calvin stretched its lead to 40 points on two occasions with the last time being 67-27.

Olivet came back with a 10-2 run to make the score 69-37. The Knights responded with a 15-4 spurt for their largest lead of the game, 84-41, with 1:05 left in the game. The Comets scored the last six points of the game for their final margin of defeat.

For the game, Calvin shot a sizzling 51.4 percent (36-of-70) from the floor, including 54.8 percent in the second half. Olivet shot only 30.6 percent (15-of-49). The Knights made seven three-pointers to four for the Comets, while Olivet canned eight more free throws, 13-5. Calvin out-rebounded the Comets, 42-31.

For Olivet, senior Sydney Radde (Stevensville/Lakeshore) scored a team-leading 13 points on four baskets and five free throws. Junior Chelsea Ciba (Olivet) joined her in double figures with 12 points to go along with four steals. Senior Mellissa Bageris (Milford) provided eight points, while senior Kaleigh Hill (Niles) came off the bench to grab a team-high five rebounds.

For Calvin, three-time MIAA MVP Carissa Verkaik led all players with 24 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Julia Hilbrands contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

The Comets (7-3, 3-2 MIAA) are now off until after Christmas when they host Cornerstone University next Saturday, Dec. 29, at 3 p.m.