ANGOLA, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's basketball teams season came to a close when it fell to the No. 1 seeded Trine in the semifinals of the MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament presented by Collegiate Credit Union. The Knights finished with a 16-11 overall record while going 10-6 in MIAA play.
 
Junior guard Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) started the game with a bang when she knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to open the scoring. Senior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) and junior RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) both contributed early buckets as the Knights kept things rolling. However, the Thunder matched pace on the other end of the floor as the first ten minutes of play ended with Trine leading 16-12.
 
Despite the Knights early success, the top seeded Thunder took control in the second quarter as they shot an impressive 42.9 percent from the field. Junior Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) tried to give Calvin a boost when she took advantage of an open look from three but Trine quickly responded with buckets of its own to smother any growing momentum on the Knights end. At the end of the half, Trine held a 34-22 advantage over Calvin.
 
After the break, the Knights came out with a vengeance as they opened the second half on a 11-2 run with LaRue, Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) and Lily Nitz (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) all hitting shots from beyond the arc. By the end of the third quarter, the Knights had cut what once was a sixteen-point lead down to just six points.
 
In the fourth quarter, it only took one minute for sophomore Jamie Custer (Galena, Ohio/Worthington Christian) to find Fernadez who hit the Knights eighth three-point field goal of the night to make it a one possession game. However, three points would be as close as Calvin would get as the Thunder went on a scoring run of their own down the stretch and the Knights eventually fell 69-57.
 
Calvin finished the game with a 32.5 shooting percentage while racking up nine three pointers. Fernandez finished with twelve points and five rebounds while Rohrer chipped in twelve points of her own and six rebounds. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "It was a game that was intense and both teams were desperate to win," said head coach Mark Christner. "I give Trine a lot of credit, they made some really tough shots and the threes were probably the difference even though we shot it pretty well once we got into a rhythm. Defensively, they are very solid and I think we rushed some things early in the half around the rim. I also give our group a ton of credit. We were down ten at halftime so to be able to come back and get a couple stops of defense. However, I want to commend our group for battling throughout the year. It certainly wasn't the year we were hoping for or anticipating but I think that there were a lot of good things that came with what we had been given. Their resolute nature represented the Calvin women's basketball program really nicely and the work will continue to catch the other two teams in our league that continue to be really good. I think we're really close and we look forward to getting after that. I would also like to salute our seniors who played in their final game tonight. They've been a classy group who have given a lot to this program and are great representatives of Calvin University. They are excellent students and will no doubt be great ambassadors for Calvin and its mission in their future pursuits. I can only thank them for being a part of Calvin women's basketball."