Women’s basketball: Comets stung by Hornets, 67-60

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team let a second-half lead slip away, as Kalamazoo College came-from-behind to beat the Comets, 67-60, tonight at the Anderson Athletic Center in Kalamazoo.

The Comets scored eight of the first 10 points of the game to take their largest lead of the opening half, 8-2. The Hornets rallied to take their own six-point lead, 21-15, at the 6:15 mark. Over the next minutes, the teams exchanged baskets and free throws to help Kalamazoo gain an eight-point advantage, 24-16. Olivet responded with a 12-5 to trail by one point, 29-28, before a Hornet basket made the score 31-28 at halftime.

The Comets scored the first five points of the second half to take a 33-31 lead. Kalamazoo then made the next two baskets to take the lead back 35-33. Olivet went on a 7-0 run for a 38-33 lead and then eventually took a six-point lead twice, with the last time being 46-40 with 9:10 left in the game.

The Comets continued to lead until the Hornets took a 51-49 lead after Grace Smith made two free throws. Junior Morgan West put Olivet ahead one more time, 52-51, when she nailed a three-pointer. Kalamazoo scored four consecutive points to take a lead, which it did not give up. The Comets had a chance to tie the game with 38 seconds left but made only 1-of-2 shots from the free throw line. The Hornets made 6-of-8 free throws in the final 27 seconds to seal their win.

Senior Stefanie Lang led all players with 18 points and 12 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season. Junior Shauni Hankins finished with 11 points, while junior Bre Kidd came off the bench to score 10. Junior Leighann Thilo dished out seven assists.

Kelsey Adamski led Kalamazoo with 15 points. Emily Lindsay and Perri Nicholson each scored 12, while Querubin Dubois and Grace Smith had 10 points apiece. Dubois grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

The Comets are off until next Wednesday, Feb. 4, when they make the trip to play Calvin College. Tip-off inside the Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids is 8 p.m.

NOTES: With her 18 points, Lang moved into second-place on the all-time scoring list with 1,081 points. Her 12 rebounds pushed her into third-place on the career list with 695 boards. Lang also had nine made field goals to move past Esther Dykstra for second-place on the career list. Lastly, Lang is four blocks shy of eclipsing Louisa Grill for the all-time lead.