Alma's Women's Basketball team hit the road on Wednesday evening in search of their second consecutive league win, and were successful, as they defeated Kalamazoo College 70-61. After the evenly contested game, the Scots improved to 4-7 in the MIAA (5-15 overall), while the host Hornets fell to 1-11 in the league and 1-17 in 2009-10.
Even though the game featured ten ties, the Scots took control early, as they went ahead 14-3 on a three-pointer by Sr. F Kathryn Bigelow (Alma, MI/Alma) at the 13:17 point of the first half. The game stayed at that score for almost five minutes, until the Hornets' Lauren Rosenthal hit a trey that made it 14-6.
Alma was able to secure 12-point leads on two occasions in the first frame, the last being at 22-10, when Sr. G Lacey Best-Rowden (Lansing, MI/Waverly) hit on a lay-up with 6:28 left in the half. The Hornets then outscored the visitors by a margin of 11-2, cutting the lead to 24-21 at the 2:27 mark. The Scots got the lead back up to five, but went into halftime with a 30-28, as Kalamazoo's Katrina Carlsen hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The first of the ten ties in the game happened 29 seconds into the second half, when Carlsen hit a lay-up for the Hornets to tie the game at 30-30. The contest stayed tight, and the two teams were deadlocked at 41-41 when Kalamazoo's Nyemade Cooper tied it on a lay-up with 12:37 left.
Alma was able to regain a lead of seven points, as Jr. F Sydney Beckwith (Weidman, MI/Beal City) dropped in a lay-up for a 55-48 lead at 7:48 of the second half. Less than two minutes later, Kalamazoo had a 56-55 lead as a free throw by Cooper capped an 8-0 run with 5:55 remaining.
The game then saw four more ties, the last being at 61-61, when Bigelow hit a free throw at the 2:02 mark. The Scots then seized the moment, and scored the final nine points, helped by three Beckwith free throws and five points from Sr. F Meagan Hoblet (Cadillac, MI/Cadillac). The late spurt allowed Alma to head home with the hard-earned 70-61 victory.
Beckwith led the Scots with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Hoblet was next with 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high four steals. Best-Rowden finished with a team-leading six assists and added five points, while Bigelow had eight points and four assists in 37 minutes of action.
