by Alan Babbitt
No. 1 Hope is seeking its 16th MIAA Tournament championship today against No. 3 Trine. The Flying Dutch have advanced to the MIAA Tournament final 20 times, including the past three seasons in a row. Hope and Trine have split their past two meetings in the championship game, with Hope winning 59-55 last season at DeVos Fieldhouse and Trine winning 70-65 in double overtime at Trine in 2019.
The top-seeded Flying Dutch advanced to the final with victories of 115-55 vs. Kalamazoo on Monday in the first round and 77-26 vs. Calvin in the semifinals on Wednesday. Hope set an MIAA Tournament record for most points scored vs. Kalamazoo and the fewest points allowed vs. Calvin.
MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament Website
The Flying Dutch have tied the program record with 44 consecutive wins. Hope won 44 consecutive games from December 5 005-January 13, 2007. The 2006 national title was part of that run. Hope's 44-game winning streak is tied for the eighth longest in NCAA Division III history. Washington-St. Louis holds the Division III record with an 81-game winning streak from February 20, 1998-January 12, 2001.
The Flying Dutch are one of two Division III programs with two winning streaks of 40 games or longer. Amherst College (Massachusetts) is the other with winning streaks of 68 games from November 19, 2016-November 18, 2018, and 50 games from January 14, 2011-March 10, 2012.
Hope's last loss happened 735 days ago — on March 2, 2019, with a 79-49 loss at Wartburg College (Iowa) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Flying Dutch's current winning streak began on Friday, November 8, 2019, with a 78-48 victory against Luther College (Iowa) at a tournament hosted by Augustana College (Illinois).
Hope is 218-8 all-time at DeVos Fieldhouse (.965 percent) since the facility opened for the 2006-07 season. Trine has two of those victories over the Flying Dutch: 73-61 in 2019 regular reason and 58-55 in the 2018 season). Hope is 29-0 in MIAA Tournament games played at DeVos Fieldhouse.
All-time in MIAA Tournament games, Hope owns a 56-12 overall record (.824 winning percentage).
The Flying Dutch are 6-1 all-time against Trine in MIAA Tournament games, including 3-1 in title games. The two teams will determine the MIAA Tournament champion for the fourth consecutive season. Two Hope-Trine MIAA Tournament games have been determined in overtime. In addition to Trine's double-overtime victory in 2019, the Flying Dutch won 68-62 in the 2018 final.
Senior guard Kenedy Schoonveld (Zeeland, Michigan/Holland Christian) needs one point to pass Amy Baltmanis '03 Edwards for 10th place all-time on Hope's scoring leaders. Schoonveld has 1,101 points in 103 games. Amanda Kerkstra '03 Williams is the Flying Dutch's all-time leading scorer with 1,568 points in 107 games.
Head coach Brian Morehouse has a career record of 626-90 overall record, including a 50-9 mark in MIAA Tournament games. He is the fastest basketball coach to reach 600 wins in NCAA history, at any level.
