Balanced scoring leads women’s basketball team to 77-66 win over Albion

OLIVET, Mich. – All five starters reached double figures in the scoring column for Olivet College, as the 23rd-ranked women's basketball team beat Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association rival Albion College, 77-66, this evening at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

Junior Carli Reid (Lansing/Waverly) led the Comets with 19 points. Junior Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind.) and senior Chelsea Ciba (Olivet) each scored 14 points. Senior Kelsey Campbell (Olivet) finished with 11 points, while senior Heather Lauwers (Ortonville/Brandon) contributed 14 points.

Two players posted double-doubles and another two just missed one. Lang had 11 rebounds to record her NCAA-leading 18th double-double of the season, while Campbell dished out 10 assists for her third of the season. Ciba and Lauwers were each one rebound shy of posting a double-double with nine boards apiece.

Olivet led by as many as eight points, 14-6, with 15:04 left in the first half. The Britons came back to tie the score at 20-20. On their next possession, Campbell made a three-pointer to put the Comets ahead for good. Olivet held a five-point lead, 34-29, at halftime.

Albion trailed by only two points four times in the second half, but each time the Comets answered by making a basket to make it a two-possession game. Olivet built its lead to double digits with 5:49 left in the game and then made 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

For the game, the Comets made 26-of-60 baskets (43.3 percent) and 21-of-28 free throws (75.0 percent) to 23-of-57 (40.4 percent) and 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) for the Britons. Olivet also out-rebounded Albion, 46-31.

Brett deBear was the only Briton in double figures, as she led all players with 22 points. Emily DeWaters provided eight points. Mikaela Bromley grabbed a team-leading six rebounds.

The Comets (18-3, 10-2 MIAA) are off for one week and will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 12, at home against Kalamazoo College. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

NOTES: Olivet won its 10th MIAA game to tie the single-season record, which was set by the 2012-13 team. With her 14 points, Lang moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time single-season scoring list with 400 points. Louisa Grill also had 400 points during the 2000-01 season. In addition, Lang needed only 12 rebounds to break the single-season record. She has 274 boards and the record in 285 by Esther Dykstra in 1992-93.