Written By: Ryan Cuddy
The Adrian College women’s basketball team had a pair of MIAA matchups on Jan 26 and Jan 29. The Bulldogs first matchup came at home when they squared off with a tough Calvin Knights opponent.
Calvin, although fourth in the conference, is a very tough team even receiving a vote to be nationally ranked inside the top 25. The Bulldogs knew that they were going to have a battle on their hands, having already met this season on Jan. 16 in Grand Rapids where Adrian dropped that tilt 37-62.
The Bulldogs came out strong and energetic in the first quarter of play, jumping on Calvin with aggressive defense. Gabby TImmer of Calvin kept the Knights afloat on offense in the first ten minutes, as she scored ten of the first twelve for the visitors.
After the first quarter of play, Adrian held a 16-12 advantage. This was the dream start for Adrian for trying to pull off the upset. The rest of the Knights offense woke up after the first quarter, as Calvin scored 8 of the first ten points in the second quarter to take the lead and didn’t look back the rest of the night. After the first quarter Calvin outscored Adrian 61-24 and ran away with the rest of the game.
Gabby Timmer of Calvin, who leads the conference in points per game and rebounds per game, had an efficient game with 16 points and seven rebounds while shooting 70 percent from the field. Chelsea Palmer, who is also near the top of the conference for points per game and rebounds per game led the way for the Bulldogs with 13 points and 5 rebounds.
The Bulldogs finished their week out by making the two and a half hour trip to South Bend, IN where they met with Saint Mary’s for the second time of the season. Looking to avenge a ten point loss against the Belles from Dec. fourth, the Bulldogs once again this week came out strong in the first ten minutes. Both Jordan Phillips and Makayla Clement hit a pair of three pointers in the first quarter, helping spearhead the strong start for Adrian. The next two quarters showed no separation between the two squads, matching scoring in the second and third quarter.
With an 8 point lead heading into the final quarter of play, the Bulldogs made sure this game wasn’t going to slip out of their reach. Ten points in the final quarter from Chelsea Palmer and a couple big three pointers down the stretch from Makayla Clement and Kiya Warner made sure that the Bulldogs were going to solidify the victory. Chelsea Palmer also added in 12 rebounds, making this her seventh double double on the season. The victory for Adrian was their sixth on the season and third in conference play.
Adrian has two big conference games coming up with contests against Alma and Olivet. The Alma Scotts sit one game ahead of Adrian in the conference standings, but with a win for the Bulldogs that would put them ahead of the Scotts being tied for wins, but Adrian having the tiebreaker with head to head matchups. Adrian is then hosting Olivet College, who are still in search of their first conference win of the year. The meeting for Adrian against Alma will be the first of the year, where the Bulldogs have played and beaten the Comets once already.
The College World 