ADRIAN, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's basketball team took on the Bulldogs of Adrian College in a MIAA showdown. After a back-and-forth game the Knights took control in the fourth quarter and pulled away with the 73-62 victory. 
 
After today Calvin improved to a 12-9 overall record and 7-5 in the MIAA while Adrian moved to 4-8 in conference play and 8-12 overall.
 
In the first quarter the Knights looked to get things rolling on offense as senior Anna Fernandez (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) and junior Chloe Wiegers (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) both notched early buckets. Sophomore Gabby Halliwill (Charlotte, Mich./Lansing Catholic) gave Calvin a boost when she nailed a shot from behind the arc shortly after entering the game before senior Sami DeKuiper (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) knocked down a three-pointer of her own right before the buzzer to give the Knights a 20-15 lead after ten minutes.
 
The second quarter proved to be a series of runs as both teams went stretches where they produced high-quality offense. At one point, the Knights held an eleven-point advantage before the Bulldogs fought back and cut the deficit to just four. With twenty-five second left on the clock, Fernandez cashed in on two shots from the charity stripe to give Calvin a 41-35 lead at halftime. Calvin recorded a 59.3 shooting percentage in the first half while also shooting 80.0 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Knights got out to a hot start in the third quarter as junior Katelyn LaRue (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) got in on the three-point party twenty seconds into the half. After scoring just four points in the first half, junior RyAnn Rohrer (Ludington, Mich./Ludington) scored four points in the third quarter to help stretch the Calvin lead to 58-46. However, the Bulldogs refused to roll over as they ended the quarter on an 8-0 run to cut Calvin's lead to just three points.
 
Both teams battled for momentum as the score remained close for the first half of the fourth quarter. However, the Knights seemed to tip the scale with three minutes left in the game when junior Hannah Sall (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to LaRue who hit her fourth three-pointer of the game. From that point forward Calvin kept the Bulldogs at bay and went on to pick up the 73-62 victory.
 
Calvin shot 55.3 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. Fernandez finished as the Knights leading scorer with twenty points and five rebounds while LaRue chipped in fifteen points and shot 100.0 percent from beyond the arc. Rohrer finished in double digits with eleven points and Sall finished with five rebounds and two blocks.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Our team showed a great amount of resolve on the road here tonight," said head coach Mark Christner. "The defensive start to the 4th quarter was awesome. Good to see a balanced scoring attack. We've had a nice stretch of play now that needs to continue into the weekend."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, February 7th when they travel to Kalamazoo to take on the Hornets at 1 PM.