GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's basketball team returned home to Van Noord Arena and picked up an impressive 61-39 victory over the Bulldogs of Adrian. With today's win the Knights improve to an 8-6 overall record and a 3-2 MIAA record while Adrian falls to 3-3 in the MIAA and 7-7 overall.
 
The Knights got out to a hot start in the first quarter when they quickly asserted their dominance by going on an 11-1 run to open the game. Junior duo Lydia Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) went to work down low while senior Sami DeKuiper (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) got on the board when she knocked down a shot from behind the arc. With one minute left in the quarter Adrian upped its defensive pressure when it put on a full court press and forced turnovers that led to four quick points. However, the Bulldogs momentum didn't last long as a jumper from junior Ashley Raredon (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) stretched the Calvin lead to seven points at the end of the first.
 
The Knights kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter as Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) knocked down a 3-pointer and Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) finished a three-point play on back-to-back possessions. Calvin posted an impressive 50.0 shooting percentage in the second quarter while holding the Bulldogs to just a 17.6 shooting percentage as the Knights headed into halftime with a commanding 29-14 lead over Adrian.
 
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs posted their best offensive performance of the day as they outscored the Knights for the first time in the game. Adrian took advantage of Calvin's mistake and recorded 15 points off the six turnovers of the Knights in the quarter. However, despite the Bulldogs burst of offensive production, the momentum quickly swung back in the Knights direction when the Adrian bench was assessed a technical foul. Wiegers knocked down both of the awarded free throws and Calvin eventually headed into the fourth quarter with a 45-31 lead.
 
Down the stretch the Knights continued to keep the pressure on the Bulldogs as they were relentless on the offensive end of the floor. Rohrer and LaRue added to their totals while freshman Lily Nitz (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) got in on the scoring action when she knocked down a three late in the game as the Knights rolled to claim the 61-39 victory.
 
The Knights shined on the defensive side of the ball as they held the Bulldogs to a 22.6 shooting percentage and only allowed them to score double digits in one quarter. Calvin also saw huge production form its bench which chipped in 17 points while also shooting an impressive 38.9 percent from three-point range as a team.
 
Rohrer finished the night with 12 points and nine rebounds while LaRue went 3-5 behind the arc and recorded 11 points. Fernandez notched 10 points while Sall chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I'm not going to lie, it's been a long week but I thought that we came to play today," said head coach Mark Christner. "We were detailed defensively and did a great job against a great team. I thought we had some key offensive rebounds to keep some possessions alive which helped us out. I thought we did better against the trapping today than we did on Wednesday. Just really proud of the way we defended against a group that can score as we made it very hard to do so."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Wednesday, January 14th when they welcome the Hornets of Kalamazoo to Van Noord Arena at 7 PM.