Women's basketball ends season with loss to K'zoo

JOEL RENDER

Staff Writer

The sports adage that it is very hard to beat a team three times in one year proved to be true, as the Alma College Women’s Basketball team fell to Kalamazoo College in the first round of the MIAA tournament, which took place over spring break.

The Lady Scots played the Hornets both to open and close their MIAA season. Alma had defeated them by 10 points or more in both games, but the third time was not a charm for the Lady Scots as they lost 76-58 to end their season.

Alma managed to spread their scoring around between their starters in the game, but it would not be enough. The Lady Scots were led by Rondi Lounds (05) for the first time this season. Lounds finished with 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the floor. This included an amazing 4 for 4 from the three-point arc.

Karen Hall (04), this year’s MIAA Most Valuable Player, came in second with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Katey Peacock (06), Michelle Dettling (05), and Ashley Borcherding (06) also added 11, 10, and 7 points respectively.

In the end, the major factors turned out to be field goal percentage and free throw shooting. The Hornets made a better percentage of their shots and made 22 of 32 from the charity stripe, which gave them an edge in a game that was otherwise equal statistically. Coach Charlie Goffnet said, “We just did not put together a great game.”

Despite that game, the Lady Scots have a lot of statistics to be proud of. As a team, Alma was 1st in free throw shooting percentage in the nation and 3rd in field goal and three point shooting percentage. Many of these statistics are largely the result of the play of Karen Hall.

Hall has several new league records this season as well as being named MVP. Most amazingly, she has set the new all-time scoring record for one season with 561 points. Not only did she average 8 points more per game than the second place finisher, but Hall also finished 160 points ahead of her nearest competitor.

The fantastic season that Hall put together makes it even more difficult to watch her leave when she graduates. Coach Goffnett said, “Karen is the type of player that can’t be replaced.” Nevertheless, the Lady Scots will certainly attempt to compensate for her loss next season.

The best news may be that Hall and only one other player will be graduating. In other words, the core of talented players that played together this season will return even hungrier.

This means that starters Ashley Borcherding, Rondi Lounds, Michelle Dettling, and Katey Peacock will all have to step up if the Lady Scots are going to remain competitive in the MIAA.

This includes playing better at home in the league next year as well. The Lady Scots final record of 7-7 in the MIAA hid their 3-5 home record in the league. Even though this means that Alma won 4 of 6 games on the road in the regular season, it did not help them in the first game of the tournament, which was at home.

Still, if that final game was any indication of the team’s ability to play together, then next season could be very interesting for the Lady Scots.

Top