Albion gives second-ranked Hope a scare

Albion gives second-ranked Hope a scare

HOLLAND, Mich. – Albion College gave Hope College, the second-ranked women's basketball team in Division III, a scare at the DeVos Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

Evelyn Wischmyer scored eight of her season-high 21 points in the third quarter as Albion outscored Hope, 25-9, to build a four-point lead. Albion led by as many as seven when Wischmeyer knocked down a 3-point basket on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Britons were unable to hold on in a 74-66 setback in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association women's basketball game.

Albion trailed by 12, 34-22, at halftime, but Hope went scoreless over a 3 ½ minute stretch of the third quarter. Wischmeyer scored on consecutive possessions as the Britons ripped off a 10-0 run to lead, 41-39.

The Britons led 50-43 on Wischmeyer's 3-point basket with 9 ½ minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Hope cut its deficit to two as Sydney Muller and Ashleigh Thomas hit from 3-point range on consecutive possessions.

The score was tied twice before the Flying Dutch took advantage of its possessions in the final two minutes. Lauren Newman and Kenedy Schoonveld scored layups on consecutive possessions and Muller hit a pair from the line as Hope built a six-point cushion with 30 seconds left.

Wischmeyer shot better than 60 percent from the field for the third time this season when she connected on 8-of-12 of her attempts. She stuffed the box score with seven rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.

Emily Bernas chipped in with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, and Rain Hinton completed her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Francesca Buchanan led Hope with 16 points. Muller finished with 15 points and Schoonveld added 11 points.

Albion, 7-2 overall and 2-1 against MIAA rivals, will take next week off from competition to concentrate on fall semester final examinations. The Britons will play another MIAA game next Saturday when it travels to Kalamazoo College for a 1 o'clock game.

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