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Women's Basketball

SCOTS WOMEN'S HOOPS KNOCKS OFF OLIVET COLLEGE

 The Alma Women’s hoops team continued MIAA play on Wednesday evening, when they made the trip south to take on Olivet College. The Scots came away with the hard- fought victory and a score of 61-56.  They are now 6-7 in league action and 9-13 overall. The Comets fell to 3-10 in the MIAA and 7-15 in 2008-09.

Other than a 2-0 Comets lead and two tie scores, the last being at 4-4, Alma led the entire game and took a 34-26 first half advantage into the lockerroom. The Scots’ biggest lead of the initial frame was by 13 points (28-15), when Fr. G Cassie Kopke (Haslet, MI/Haslet) hit a jumper with 6:06 left in the half. Olivet proved they were not going away on this night and closed the gap to eight with a lay-up by Caitlin Thilo at the buzzer.

In the second half, the teams traded baskets for the first ten minutes, but Alma again was able to hit their game-high 13-point lead when So. G Stephanie Bradshaw (Livonia, MI/Churchill) connected on a lay-up to give the vistiting team a 48-35 lead at the 9:55 mark.

The Comets were not going down without a fight and twice closed the gap to one-point, the last time being at 57-56 when Emily Brown hit a jumper with 1:49 remaining in the game. Alma was able to hang on and pull out the win by making free throws down the stretch. Sr. G Heather Keenan (Charlotte, MI/Charlotte) and Kopke each drained two from the charity stripe, and the Scots got out of town with the gritty league win.

Alma shot 39% for the game on 24 of 62 shooting, including four of 12 from outside the three-point line, while the Comets shot just 34% (21 of 62) from their field and eight of 23 from beyond the arc. The Scots had a season-low four turnovers and forced 15 Olivet miscues on the evening.

Jr. F Meagan Hoblet (Cadillac, MI/Cadillac) led the Scots with 13 points, while Kopke had nine points and Jr. G Lacey Best-Rowden (Lansing, MI/Waverly) finished with eight. So. F Sydney Beckwith (Weidman, MI/Beal City) contributed seven points and six rebounds, while Keenan had a team-high three assists and six points. Jr. F Kathryn Bigelow (Alma, MI/Alma) paced the Scots with eight rebounds on the evening, while Hoblet had five boards.

The Scots continue league play on Saturday afternoon, when they travel to Trine University, to take on the league rival Thunder. Game time in Angola, IN, is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Box Score

 

Alma is one of only 100 colleges and universities to be named to the Templeton Honor Roll in the Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development.

 

Coach Profile

Terry Smith

Terry Smith

Smith graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in Physical Education in 1984. After graduating, Smith got his start in coaching when he was the boy’s basketball coach at Fulton High School while working as a teacher at Ithaca High School. From there he moved to Cedar Springs High School were he coached and taught and won his first district championship in 1987.

The following year, Coach Smith got his first taste of coaching in the college ranks when he was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Ferris State University and was part of the team that won a GLIAC Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII Tournament.

After a year at FSU, Coach Smith left for Lake Superior State University where he served for three years as an assistant coach before being promoted to the head coach position in 1991. In five years time, Coach Smith had turned around the LSSU program. In 1996 his team won the first League Championship for LSSU since joining the GLIAC in 1978. During this time, Coach Smith also earned his M.A. in Physical Education from Central Michigan University.