HOLLAND, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's basketball team traveled to Holland, Michigan to take on No. 9 Hope College in what would be the 141st edition of The Rivalry. After a hard fought first quarter the Dutch pulled away and didn't look back as Calvin fell 67-56. After today the Knights fell to a 7-5 overall record and 2-1 in MIAA play while Hope improved to 11-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
 
Calvin started the game shooting hot from behind the arc as junior duo Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) gave the Knights their first points of the game off back-to-back three-pointers. Lydia Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) recorded four points down low while RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) chipped in a jumper as Calvin posted an impressive 50.0 shooting percentage in the first quarter. However, on the other end of the floor, the Dutch also found offensive success and the Knights finished the first ten minutes trailing Hope 12-17.
 
Wiegers started the second quarter strong as she added to her total by finishing through contact and sinking the following free throw to complete the three-point play. However, despite senior Sami DeKuiper (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and sophomore Jamie Custer (Galena, Ohio/Worthington Christian) recording their first buckets of the game, the Dutch defense contained the Knights as Hope outscored the Knights 20-8 in the second quarter. 
 
Looking to bounce back from the 37-20 deficit, the Knights put up their highest offensive performance of the day in the third quarter as they posted fourteen points and grabbed two offensive rebounds. Junior RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) came alive as she had six points, four rebounds, and one steal in the third quarter while senior Emma Witte (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) also got in on the scoring action. Unfortunately for the Knights, Hope refused to slow down on the other side of the ball and Calvin continued to trail the Dutch with a score of 50-34 heading to the final ten minutes of the game.
 
In the fourth quarter the Knights tried their best to cut the lead down but the mountain proved to be too far to climb and they eventually fell to the Dutch 67-56. Rohrer led the way for the Knights with 15 points and five rebounds while LaRue finished with 13 points. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "It was a hard result but I was proud of our team today," said head coach Mark Christner. "We've had a really great week and it's unfortunate that we weren't able to play better today. We had a hard time getting situated offensively for a stretch of time there which probably ended up being the difference in the game. Defensively, we hung in there and adjusted on the fly well. Good teams figure out how to proceed from here and I think that we are a really good team with a really good staff so that's what we're going to do."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Wednesday, January 9th when they travel to take on the Scots of Alma at 7PM.