GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's basketball team picked up its second straight win this afternoon when it dominated the Belles of Saint Mary's 74-41. With today's victory the Knights improved to 11-9 overall and 6-5 in MIAA play. The Knights remain in fourth place in the MIAA standings and now hold a two-game lead over fifth place Alma. 
 
The Knights started off the game strong defensively in the first quarter as they scored fourteen points off of Saint Mary's nine early turnovers. They held the Belles to just a 20.0 shooting percentage while the junior duo of Lydia Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) and Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) each recorded a block. On the other end of the floor, senior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) scored seven points as Calvin outscored Saint Mary's 18-6 in the first.
 
Calvin kept things rolling in the second quarter as junior RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) came alive on both sides of the ball. By the end of the half, she had notched 10 points, nine rebounds, four steals and a block as the Knights extended their lead to 34-16. 
 
Fernandez started the second half strong for the Knights when she finished through contact and then tacked on an extra point from the charity stripe. Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) and Gabby Halliwill (Charlotte, Mich./Lansing Catholic) both nailed shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter to give Calvin a boost while senior Emma Witte (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) got her first points of the game when she drained two free throws.
 
Calvin continued to dominate the Belles in the fourth quarter as it posted a 41.7 shooting percentage, its best performance of the day. Lindsay Minderhoud (Grand Rapids, Mich./Covenant Christian) and Makara Obande (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) came in off the bench and quickly got themselves on the score sheet before Lauren VanSumeren (Midland, Mich./Midland Dow) scored the Knights final point of the day with two shots from the free throw line.
 
The Knights defensive intensity paid off as they scored 33 points off of the Belles 30 turnovers. Calvin outscored Saint Mary's in the paint 28-18 and saw solid production from its bench which accounted for 24 points.
 
Fernandez finished with a game high 21 points while Rohrer recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Halliwill finished with eight points and Wiegers had a team high six assists.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I thought our defensive intensity to start the game was excellent," said head coach Mark Christner. "We have been able to get off to a really good start defensively over the last few weeks and we're just trying to make the other team as uncomfortable as possible. We were able to find some offense, RyAnn and Anna helped us get established pretty quickly and then we saw some good contributions from other folks too. It was good to go 2-0 this week and we're going to keep getting better."
  
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Wednesday, February 4th when they travel to Adrian to take on the Bulldogs at 7 P.M..