Holland, Mich. - The Alma College women's basketball team fell to Hope College tonight (Jan. 3) in the DeVos Fieldhouse. The Scots gave up a large run in favor of the Dutch falling behind going in to halftime where they could not bounce back from, falling 62-45.

Alma took the small lead 15-13 in the first quarter with 4:28 left to play when junior Kaitlyn Kendall (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) hit a jumper. Hope's defense was relentless and the offense answered after this point out scoring the Scots 13-4 in the second quarter. Alma went in to the half trailing 31-19.

Even though Alma out scored Hope 13-10 in the fourth quarter Hope kept the lead large enough and defeated the Scots 65-42.

Freshman Sophie Guzman (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge) paced the Scots with a total of 10 points. Guzman went 4-8 shooting .500 percent from the field while sinking to three-pointers. Freshman Kelsey Wolffis (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores) cleaned up the boards with team high nine and recorded four blocks, keeping her streak alive. 

At the end of the day the Scots shot 31.5 percent from the field while they could only hold the Dutch 39.0 percent. As a team Alma picked up 34 rebounds, eight assists and 12 steals. The Scots fell to 7-12 on the year and 2-9 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) while the Dutch improved to an unblemished 20-0 and 12-0 in the league.

On Saturday (Feb. 6) Alma will return home to play in the Art Smith Arena to host Albion College for the second time this season. Alma is only two games behind the Britons and the tip-off time is set for 3:00 p.m. 

GAME NOTES:

• Kassidy Blough has hit a three-pointer in every single game this season except one.
• Kelsey Wolffis is on a seven game blocking streak, as she recorded four tonight.
• Kaitlyn Kendall is fourth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in field goal percentage as she stands at 48.3 percent. 
• Alma is leading the MIAA in field goal percentage, shooting 34.9 percent going 112-321.
• As a team Alma is leading the league in blocked shots for an average of 4.5 game while Kelsey Wolffis is solely leading the league with a grand total of 49 blocked shots on the campaign.

QUOTE:

Head Coach Kris Johnson

on the game... 

"Overall we did not shoot the ball well tonight but our defense was tough. Our effort was there and I am proud of how much we have improved. We need to keep it up."