Feb. 26, 2008

Stats

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The bus ride home back on February 13 must have been a quite and somber one after a last-second one-point loss at Calvin College. However the Adrian women's basketball team got another shot at redemption and they took advantage of it with a 59-58 win in Grand Rapids in the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament.

Once again the game came down to the final possession but sophomore Kim Olech had other plans in this contest as she blocked a shot by Marcia Harris and sent the Bulldogs into the semifinals being played at Albion College on Thursday with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.

The sixth-seeded Bulldogs led throughout nearly all of the contest as the game was tied twice in the early going. Adrian took the lead at 6-4 at the 17:27 mark and proceeded to lead for the entire game. The Bulldogs led 40-32 at halftime and built their lead to 57-43 with 9:02 left in the game. The Knights did not roll over on their home court and got back into the game with a chance to win. The Bulldogs failed to score a point in the final 8:13 of the game but did have a defensive answer when it mattered the most. Harris got Calvin to within 59-58 with 2:03 left in the game and both teams failed to score the rest of the way.

Adrian missed two shots and committed two turnovers down the stretch but also held Calvin off the scoreboard. Calvin missed two shots and turned it over once with the chance to take the lead. Anita Stamps stole the ball with 35 seconds left and Adrian called a timeout to setup a final play. Nichole Roose was forced into a turnover with seven seconds to go and Calvin had one more chance with five seconds after a timeout. Harris had her final shot blocked by Olech as time expired.

Megan Bouwens led Adrian with 13 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. She was 5-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-3 at the foul line in 29 minutes. It was Bouwens 11th double-digit game of the season. Olech added 10 points and eight boards while shooting 5-of-11 from the floor. She also had two blocks and two steals in 32 minutes. Stamps came off the bench to score 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She played 27 minutes and also recorded two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Adrian (10-15) will travel to Albion who have defeated Adrian twice this season. The Britons took a 63-55 win at Albion back on December 1 and Adrian fell 76-56 at home on January 23.