BY Dave Buursma

Staff Writer

After being held to just two points in the first 10 minutes of their Saturday afternoon contest, the Calvin Women's Basketball team completed a dramatic 48-45 come-from-behind victory over Albion in front of a Homecoming Crowd.

Sophomore Andrea MacDonald was a catalyst for the Knight's (12-10, 7-5 MIAA) sputtering offense in the opening half, providing nine of Calvin's nineteen points at the break.

Despite mustering only nineteen points on 6-for-32 (18%) shooting in the first half, Calvin entered the locker rooms down just two at 21-19. Fortunately for the Knights, Albion (14-8, 5-7 MIAA) entertained offensive woes of its own in the opening stanza, as the Britons connected on a dismal 25% of their shots.

``We had a hard time finishing in the first half,'' Coach Kim Gall said. ``We thought that we were getting good looks, but we just weren't finishing.''

Unlike the first half, Calvin wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second stanza, as junior Tricia Dyk forced an Albion turnover 10 seconds in and knotted the score at 21-21. The Knights used their quickness early and often in the second half to force turnovers and convert easy buckets.

``It really helps to get points off of steals, especially when you are struggling from the field,'' said Gall.

The Knights took advantage of every Briton mistake over the next 7 minutes, scoring six points off of Albion turnovers during a13-7 run that gave Calvin its largest lead of the game at 34-28 with 12:49 remaining. The next 10 minutes saw Albion reply with a furious comeback, reeling off runs of 7-0 and 6-0 to take a one point lead and set up a dramatic final two-minutes.

Dyk proved to be clutch with the game on the line once again, as she erased the 45-44 Briton lead by drilling a spinning jumper in the lane with 1:50 remaining, giving the Knights a one-point advantage. After the Britons failed to convert on a pair of free throws, Dyk connected on Calvin's only free throws of the second half, splashing in two from the line with 8.3 seconds left. Down 58-55, Albion looked to put the game into overtime, but settled for a long game-tying attempt that fell well short.

With the win, Calvin moved into a tie for third place in the league with Adrian and took a huge step towards ensuring home-court advantage in the first-round of the MIAA Tournement.

MacDonald paced the Knights as she powered in a career-high 11 points en route to her first career double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds, swatting three shots and grabbing two steals. Dyk also reached double figures, as she netted 10 points and came away with four steals while sophomore Kim Wolthuis finished with 8 points and three steals.

Stacey Supanich was the lone Briton in double-digits, contributing 10 points in the losing effort.

Calvin was also in action this past Wednesday as it traveled to the third ranked team in the nation, that of Hope College. The Knights came up just a tad short as it fell to the Dutch 62-55. The Knights were led by Calvin was led in scoring by Beard who picked up 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots to notch her fifth career double-double. McDonald was next for the Knights with eight points while Dyk and freshman Rita Ouwinga had seven points apiece with Dyk adding five assists.