HOLLAND, Mich.- Tonight the 22^nd ranked Calvin women's basketball team traveled to Holland, Mich. to take on 13^th Trine in the semi-final of the MIAA Tournament. Despite fighting to the very end, the Knights ultimately fell 61-66.
 
After tonight's game the Knights finish the regular season with a 13-5 MIAA record and a 21-6 overall record. Although Trine outshot Calvin 46.9 percent to 38.5 percent Calvin's impressive free throw shooting of 93.8 percent proved to be key in its comeback.
 
It was Trine who got off to a quick start in the first quarter. After shooting 75 percent from three-point range the Thunder took a 9-point lead after the first ten minutes of play. As the second quarter started the Knights continued to struggle to get the lid off the basket as shots continued to rattle in and out. Trine on the other hand continued to extend its led to 19 points which would be the largest lead of the night.
 
With a little less than five minutes left in the half senior Sydney Cleary (Middleville, Mich./South Christian) hit a three as the shot clock expired and that seemed to give Calvin the spark it had been looking for. A few possessions later Gabby Timmer (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) drove in and the kicked the ball out to a wide-open Sara Nealy (Highland Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian) who drove home the 3-pointer. On the next play Cleary got a steal on the defensive end and surged forward on a breakaway. Although she was fouled on the layup, she proceeded to sink both free throws and the Knights went into halftime trailing 25-36.
 
The Knights carried over the momentum that they had found at the end of the first half and went on a 9-2 run to begin the second. Trine quickly called a timeout to catch its breath, but Calvin continued to show that it was locked in on both ends of the floor. The Knights went on to outscore the Thunder 22-12 in the third quarter and heading into the fourth only trailing by one point.
 
Calvin didn't show any signs of slowing down as it continued to trade baskets with Trine. With five minutes left in the game Leah Harris (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) received the ball from out of bounds and hit a turnaround jumper to give the Knights their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Down the final stretch there were several lead changes as both teams battled for the advantage.
 
With Calvin down by four and just thirty seconds left Trine committed an off-the-ball foul on Timmer who went to the free-throw line. She sank the first one and although the second was off the mark freshman RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) came up huge with the offense rebound to keep the play alive. Unfortunately, the Knights we unable to convert on the possession and had to foul the Thunder to stop the clock. Trine successfully converted its free throws at the end of the game which allowed them to pull away as the Knights ultimately fell 66-61.
 
Cleary led all scorers as she finished with 23 points. Timmer was close behind with 19 points as Harris chipped in 8 points.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I thought our players really battled to have a shot at the end," said Calvin women's basketball head coach Mark Christner. "I thought we did some good things and that we played our hearts out. The seniors have been a very, very special group and I've been proud to coach all of them. I sure hope that we get the chance to go at it one more time together."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will await to see if they are able to snatch an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is Monday, Feb. 27^th at 2:30 p.m.