ANGOLA, Ind. – A valiant effort by a short-handed Calvin women's basketball team came up just short as the Knights suffered a 71-65 at No. 20 Trine Saturday afternoon.

Calvin (14-10 overall, 9-6 MIAA) jumped out to an 18-8 first quarter lead but trailed 34-33 at halftime.
Back-to-back 3-point shots by sophomore Gabby Halliwill and junior Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) bumped Calvin into a 47-43 third quarter lead.  Trine fought back to forge a 50-50 tie at the end of three, setting up a frantic final frame.

Trine scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to build a 58-50 advantage. Calvin countered with a 6-2 run capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play by senior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) to creep to within four at 60-56.

Madison Wagner answered a big triple from the top for Trine to give the Thunder a 63-56 lead. Calvin surged back to within two at 65-63, using five points from junior point guard Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./) and a jumper in transition by junior Ashley Raredon (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian HS).

Trine got an old-fashioned three-point play of its own with 56 seconds however to go up 68-63 and managed to hold the Knights to a single field goal in the closing minute to seal the win.

The victory allowed Trine (21-3 overall, 15-0 MIAA) to clinch the MIAA outright league title.

LaRue had 15 points, three assists and two steals for Calvin. Senior RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington HS) had 14 points and six boards. Fernandez had 13 points, five assists and three steals. Wiegers chipped in with seven points, two steals and two rebounds. Halliwill had nine points off the bench as she connected on 3 of 4 from three-point range.

Annika Southworth had 21 points to lead Trine while Ally Capouch had 19 with Wagner contributing 13.

Trine outrebounded Calvin 36-22. Calvin was 15 of 21 (.714) from the free throw line while Trine was 18 of 24 (.750) at the charity stripe. Calvin collected 11 steals and forced Trine into 20 turnovers.

COACHES COMMENT: "First off, congrats to Coach (Andy) Rang and Trine women's basketball," said Calvin head women's basketball coach Mark Christner. "Winning the league is a big deal. They have had a tremendous season. They are a very well coached group. Our effort was high. I thought we did some really good things. We need to build on this. Clean up a few things and great ready to hour our seniors and play well Wednesday."

NEXT UP: Calvin will host Alma Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside Van Noord Arena with the Knights celebrating Senior Night as part of the evening festivities.