Women’s basketball team falls to Calvin, 78-54

The Olivet College women's basketball team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Calvin College, 78-54, today at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

Calvin's 16-point lead, 37-21, at halftime was its largest lead of the first 20 minutes of play. Olivet battled back early in the second half and trimmed its deficit down to 11 points, 42-31. The Knights came back with a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 21 points. For most of the remainder of the game, Calvin had a more than 20-point lead.

Making her first start of the season, junior Darcell Williams (Muskegon/Reeths-Puffer) led the Comets with 16 points. Senior Gabrielle Federau (Okemos) had a near double-double with 10 points and game-high nine rebounds.

For the Knights (10-1, 3-0 MIAA) Carissa Verkaik posted a near-perfect afternoon, canning 12-of-13 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws for a game-high 26 points. She also grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds. Brook VanEck added 11 points, while Allison Wolffis came off the bench to score 10 points.

Olivet (1-9, 1-2 MIAA) is now idle until Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 29-30, when it competes at the Ohio Wesleyan University/Hoops for Hope Tournament in Delaware, Ohio. On Tuesday, the Comets will play the host Bishops at 6 p.m. The consolation and championship games are Wednesday at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively.