GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's basketball team welcomed the Flying Dutch of Hope College to Van Noord Arena for this season's first meeting and the overall 138th edition of The Rivalry. 
 
As the game got underway the Knights got on the board first when sophomore Hannah Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) weaved through traffic to convert down low. After that the Flying Dutch went on a 7-0 scoring run before senior Valerie Dirkse (Vienna, Va./Marshall) found sophomore Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) who knocked down Calvin's first three-pointer of the game. 
 
Unfortunately for the Knights, the trend of the quarter was whenever Calvin got close, Hope would go on a quick scoring run to reclaim the momentum. By the end of the first ten minutes, despite a steal and layup from Hannah Sall and a three-pointer from junior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) the Knights trailed 25-17.
 
Calvin came out hot to start the second quarter as senior Sophie Sensenig (Grayslake, Ill./Westlake Christian) knocked down a shot from behind the arc. On the next possession, sophomore Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) got the ball out in front of her defender. When she got to the basket, she came to a jump stop and waited for the Hope defender to go flying by before finishing the easy layup.
 
Later on in the quarter, sophomore Lydia Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) showed off her passing skills when she found Fernandez on a back door cut through traffic while LaRue got in on the three-point action when she hit one from downtown. However, on defense, the Knights struggled to slow down Hope's fast paced offense as the Flying Dutch held a twelve-point lead heading into halftime.
 
In the third quarter the Knights really locked in on defense as they worked to dig themselves out of the hole. Posting a 50 percent shooting percentage, their best of the game, Calvin was led by Dirkse, Allie Mayes (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing), and Fernandez who all hit key shots throughout the quarter. Just before the buzzer went off, LaRue muscled through bodies to convert a layup to bring the Knights within three points heading into the final quarter.
 
Unfortunately for the Knights, the momentum they had built in the third quarter did not carry over as Hope started to reclaim control of the game. Calvin struggled to produce on the offensive side of the ball as the Flying Dutch outscored them 16-11 and Hope picked up the 72-64 victory.
 
After today's game Calvin fell to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in MIAA play while Hope improved to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
 
Calvin recorded a 42.3 shooting percentage today while holding Hope to just a 35.7 shooting percentage. The Flying Dutch out rebound the Knights 38-33 while Calvin had the advantage down low with 30 points in the paint compared to Hope's 26.
 
Fernandez finished the game as the Knights leading scorer with 18 points while LaRue was close behind with 14 points. On defense, Calvin added 11 blocks to their nationally leading season total of 102. Hannah Sall was responsible for five blocks while Lydia Sall had two.  
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "This was a tough one for us to come out on the short end," said head coach Mark Christner. "I thought that we did a lot of things very well. I thought we competed on the boards which was an emphasis for us because we know they are a very good offensive rebounding team. At halftime we talked about ways that we could shrink their lead which we did in the third quarter and then it just becomes a bit of a make or miss deal where they made a couple and we didn't. We give them credit and yet I think there are a lot of good thing that I saw today that we can build on moving forward."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back on the court on Wednesday, January 8th at 6PM when they welcome the Bulldogs of Adrian to Van Noord Arena.