Women’s basketball team loses to Hope, 70-58, in battle of nationally-ranked teams

The No. 24 ranked Olivet College women’s basketball team battled No. 4 Hope College for the first 37 minutes of the game before the Flying Dutch pulled away late to beat the Comets, 70-58, tonight at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland.

Box Score

Team Stats

Women’s basketball team loses to Hope, 70-58, in battle of nationally-ranked teams
January 29, 2014

HOLLAND, Mich. – The No. 24 ranked Olivet College women's basketball team battled No. 4 Hope College for the first 37 minutes of the game before the Flying Dutch pulled away late to beat the Comets, 70-58, tonight at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland. With the loss Olivet snapped its 11-game winning streak and fell into a tie for second-place Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings with an 8-2 record.

In the first half, the teams traded baskets in the early stages until the Comets took a five-point lead, 13-8, with 11:09 remaining. The Flying Dutch came back with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 15-15. After two more tied scores 17-17 and 19-19, Olivet scored five straight points to gain another five-point advantage, 24-19.

Hope responded with five straight points to the knot the score at 24-24 until junior Carli Reid (Lansing/Waverly) put the Comets back ahead with a layup. The Flying Dutch grabbed the lead back, 27-26, at halftime when Brittany Berry banked in a three-pointer from the top of the arc.

Olivet led by two points, 31-29, at the 18:36 mark of the second half. Hope came back with a 10-2 run to take a six-point lead, 39-33. The Flying Dutch then built the first double digit lead for either team at 53-42 with 9:06 remaining in the game.

The Comets fought back with an 8-0 run over the next four and half minutes to cut their deficit down to three points, 53-50. Olivet would not get any closer for the rest of the game, as Hope made six free throws in the final 40 seconds to create its margin of victory.

All 58 points for the Comets came from four different players, led by senior Chelsea Ciba's (Olivet) 17 points. Junior Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind.) finished with 16 points, while Reid and senior Kelsey Campbell (Olivet) had 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lang grabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Brittany Berry scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Flying Dutch.

The Comets (16-3, 8-2 MIAA) return to action Saturday afternoon when they host Alma College at 3 p.m. in the first game of a basketball doubleheader at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. Following the women's game, the Olivet men face Adrian College.