WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Dark Knight]

Nice story in the Grand Rapids Press about the Calvin-Hope rivalry, women's edition. Don't miss the slide show.

[oldknight]

Latest Massey ratings for the MIAA:

Calvin #7
Hope #20
Albion #77
St Mary's #106
Adrian #179
Alma #182
Kalamazoo #271
Olivet #273

Calvin climbed 6 spots to #7 after the strong trip out west. Calvin's power climbed by 4.7 points--3.5 of that in defensive improvement. That's a dramatic change for adding just two game results.

Massey now thinks Calvin will beat Hope by 10 on Saturday.

Hard to argue with Massey on this one.  Hope has been winning but has not been as dominant as Calvin.  Hope's starting center and co-captain, who started out very strong this year, is out.  Calvin is at home.  While either team is capable of winning, this one figures to be a double digit win for Calvin.

Yes, I agree on paper it looks like a double digit win for Calvin.  But you never know with Calvin vs. Hope.....  Should be a good one!

If you have a weak stomach, my advice is this: Never bet money on a Calvin/Hope game in any sport, any time.

Possibly the best piece of unsolicited advice ever given on this board--or even off it.

Having said that, I believe Calvin is the clear favorite this year.

[wiz]

If you have a weak stomach, my advice is this: Never bet money on a Calvin/Hope game in any sport, any time.

Possibly the best piece of unsolicited advice ever given on this board--or even off it.

Having said that, I believe Calvin is the clear favorite this year.

I'll bet you're right.

[realist]

Calvin 72  Hope 59.  Calvin great defense in 1st half, and Hope just couldn't get back once it got down.  Calvin did the job with rebounds, and making ft's down the stretch.  Hope did a nice job on CV, and she really had to work to get a double double.  Fortunately others picked up the offense and made the most of their opportunities.

[knights2000]

The story of this game was, in my opinion, freshman Kayla Engelhard. If you'll recall last years game at Hope, the guards for the Dutch defensively pushed Calvin's guards 40 feet from the basket, forcing what seemed like 40 turnovers. (In reality, it was only 34.) Engelhard was able to control the ball with Liz Ellis playing tough D, and even made Hope drop back into a zone for a period of time. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch sealed it, and the hard nosed basketball (diving for multiple loose balls) was impressive. Welcome to The Rivalry, freshman.

A 46-30 rebounding advantage for the Knights was huge, with three Knights (Verkaik 12, Kurncz 10, and Hilbrands 8) notching or nearly notching double-doubles.

Things to work on: 2-20 on three-point attempts is not what you look for. If you had told me Calvin would shoot 10% from outside and Verkaik would have finished with 13 points, I would have told you the Knights wouldn't stand a chance.

I was very impressed by Maddie Burnett. She made some very big shots down the stretch, but the Dutch could never seem to get over the 8-9 point hump. They'd make a run, and Calvin would answer with a few buckets of their own.

Can't wait for rematch in Holland.

[bballfan13]

Great game for the Knights today. Their defense really shut down Hope right from the beginning which set the tone for the game. I was impressed in the first half when Hope was down 22-9 and made a run to pull within 5 at 22-17. Calvin responded with their own run to go back up by 11 and go into half with a 13 point lead.  This gave the Knights confidence going into the half and never looked back.

It was nice to see a balanced scoring attack today from the Knights. Kayla Engelhard was very impressive in her first game against Hope.

Well done Knights! Should be a great game at Hope in February. 

[oldknight]

The balance of power on the women's side has changed in the MIAA with Calvin clearly the dominant team now and Hope gamely trying to keep pace. The graduation of Snikkers and the loss of Kussmaul to an ACL injury has left Hope with too little horsepower to compete on the inside with Calvin. Morehouse's ladies are still good at playing an aggresive style perimeter defense that trys to force an opponent to start their offense 40 feet from the basket but Verkaik's presence and repeated backdoor cuts made Hope's defense pay often enough for Calvin to build and then maintain a 8-14 point lead most of the game. By the final four minutes Hope's ladies looked exhausted from their effort. Absent some fine 3 point shooting by Burnett and Overway, this game would have been more of a rout than the comfortable win it wound up being. The comments about Kayla Engelhard by knights2000 are right on the mark. Kayla is a wonderful floor general, plays nothing like a freshmen, and is a real difference maker for John Ross. Brian Morehouse was very generous in his post game comments about the Lady Knights.

http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2012/01/victor_enjoys_rare_double-digi.html

[Roundball999]

Calvin's defense resulted in Hope 2-18 shooting and a 20-7 Calvin lead after the first few minutes.  The rest of the game was basically even and the end result was about as expected.  Should be a great game at Hope, I expect a closer game but with both teams' current personnel, Hope only wins if they shoot the lights out.

[sac]

Respect for a program is probably defined by a team losing convincingly to its rival, yet not dropping in the polls.

[Roundball999]

Respect for a program is probably defined by a team losing convincingly to its rival, yet not dropping in the polls.

I figure that it shows respect for both programs.  Losing to such a strong, higher ranked Calvin team shouldn't automatically cause a drop in the polls.  I'm sure Hope's solid performance so far this year and overall program strength also helps.  I guess it will be tough for Calvin to move up further unless one of the top three drop a game....

[realist]

One has to wonder if the fact this game was streamed thereby giving voters a chance to see both teams had any impact?  Hope had a good sized crowd on hand as the attendance was 2518 for this game, and it dropped to 1937 for the men's game.

[Dark Knight]

Massey predictions for today's games:

St Mary's over Kalamazoo by 8 (actual result 9)
Trine over Alma by 8 (actual result 6)
Albion over Olivet by 12 (actual result 3)
Hope over Adrian by 13 (actual result 3)
Calvin over Rochester by by 28 (actual result 34)

There's a very nice piece by Gordon Mann on the Calvin-Hope rivalry on the d3hoops.com site:

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2011-12/on-the-seventh-day

[KnightSlappy]

Carissa Verkaik is now 91 pts away from 1,500, 1 rebound away from 700, and 18 blocks away from 300.

[Dark Knight]

Carissa Verkaik is now 91 pts away from 1,500, 1 rebound away from 700, and 18 blocks away from 300.

...and 41 points away from making the MIAA most points scored (career) top ten list.

[KnightSlappy]

Carissa Verkaik is now 91 pts away from 1,500, 1 rebound away from 700, and 18 blocks away from 300.

...and 41 points away from making the MIAA most points scored (career) top ten list.

I believe she's "on pace" to get all the way up to #3 (passing Marcia Harris and Lisa Winkle for Calvin's top spot) this season.