ANGOLA, Ind. – The Calvin women's basketball team is headed back to the NCAA III Tournament for the first in eight years. The Knights punched their ticket to the Big Dance with a 70-57 upset victory over No. 11 Trine Saturday night in the MIAA Tournament Championship final at Trine's MTI Center.

The victory was Calvin's second win in as many days against a Top 25 ranked team as they handed No. 19 Hope a 66-62 loss in the semifinals on Friday night. Calvin then rolled over the Thunder on Saturday to claim their first MIAA Tournament crown since 2015.

Calvin (18-10) will carry a six-game win streak into NCAA III Tournament play.

In its victory over Trine, Calvin used a familiar formula for victory – hot first half shooting and strong defensive play – to build a 38-24 halftime lead. Calvin led 16-12 after the first quarter and then used a 22-12 second quarter to build a double-digit advantage. Calvin closed out the final 5:09 of the second quarter on an 18-3 heater. The run was punctuated by a three-pointer inside the final minute by junior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) .

Trine (24-3) punched back, outscoring Calvin 24-16 in the third quarter. Trine closed to within three at 51-48 only to see Fernandez drain another clutch triple in the closing seconds to give the Knights a 54-48 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Trine drew within four at 54-50 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter but Calvin went back up 59-50 on a pair of free throws by senior Valerie Dirkse (Vienna, Va./Marshall HS) and a triple by sophomore Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS).

Trine got to within five at 60-55 but a free throw by sophomore Hannah Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) and a clutch triple by LaRue gave the Knights breathing room at 64-55. Sall answered with a layup with 1:17 remaining and LaRue fired in two more free throws to put the game out of reach and seal the win.

Fernandez pumped in 17 points to lead Calvin in scoring which included three triples. LaRue had 14 points and seven rebounds while Sall had 14 points and five rebounds to go with two blocked shots. Dirkse just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) had six points, five rebounds and four assists. Freshmen Jamie Custer (Galena, Ohio Worthington Christian) and Gabby Halliwill (Charlotte, Mich./Lansing Catholic Central HS) chipped in with five points apiece off the bench.

Erin Sherwood led Trine in defeat with 21 points while Sydney Wager had 17. Calvin shot 42.6 percent from the floor while limiting Trine to 35.1 percent field goal shooting. Calvin also held a 41-34 rebounding advantage.

COACHES COMMENT: "Incredible accomplishment from this group," said Calvin head women's basketball coach Mark Christner. "Our players believed and fed off each other all weekend. All along we thought that we had the potential to be an NCAA III Tournament team and tonight we made that a reality. I thought our defense was outstanding again with strong attention to detail. I think our team chemistry or what I like to call our esprit de corps was outstanding as well. It's exciting and we are looking forward to preparing for next week."

NEXT UP: Calvin will await its NCAA III Tournament placement next Monday with the field set to be announced at 2:30 p.m.