GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tonight the Calvin women's basketball team continued its MIAA conference schedule when it welcomed the Scots of Alma to Van Noord Arena. Coming into today's game the Knights and Scots were tied in the MIAA standings but thanks to a strong second half the Knights picked up the victory to improve to 8-4 in MIAA play and 12-9 overall.
 
In the first quarter the two teams quickly proved to be very evenly matched as they created scoring opportunities on both ends of the floor. Calvin hopped out to an early lead thanks to baskets from junior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) and senior Valerie Dirkse (Vienna, Va./Marshall). It didn't take long for the Scots to even things up. With just under three minutes left in the first, a three-pointer from Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) and a pair of free throws from Dirkse gave the Knights a slight three point advantage at the end of the quarter.
 
One minute into the second quarter sophomore Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) looked to give Calvin a boost as she hit a shot from downtown while senior Sophie Sensenig (Grayslake, Ill./Westlake Christian) scored her first points of the nights shortly after. Alma tried to fight back but the Knights locked in on defense and forced six turnovers and recorded a block. On the other end of the floor, Fernandez added to her total with two three-pointers as Calvin headed into halftime with a 33-22 lead.
 
As the second half got underway both teams battled for momentum as they traded baskets. Hannah Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) got in on the scoring action as she worked to establish herself down low while freshman Jamie Custer (Galena, Ohio/Worthington Christian) nailed a shot from behind the arc. By the end of the third quarter, despite Alma having outscored the Knights, Calvin still claimed a nine point lead over the Scots.
 
In the fourth quarter the Knights really came alive as they outscored the Scots 14-5 and walked away with the 58-40 win. Calvin outscored the Scots in the paint 26-20 and scored 22 points off of turnovers.
 
Fernandez finished the evening as Calvin's leading scorer with 22 points while LaRue chipped in 11 points. Dirkse grabbed a team high eleven rebounds and three blocks while Custer recorded four steals.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "It was an outstanding defensive performance from our team tonight," said head coach Mark Christner. "We had very active hands, got our hands on a lot of balls and I just can't give enough credit to our group tonight on defense. One of the best defensive performance I've seen since I've been here. I thought that we were really steady down the stretch and executed well. Overall, a really good performance from the whole team tonight."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, February 8th when they travel to Adrian to take on the Bulldogs at 1PM.