by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College women's basketball team finally had enough.

After nearly 30 minutes of an NCAA Division III Tournament opponent making play after play, too, the Flying Dutch dominated the final 1 1/2 quarters and pulled away for an 86-54 victory against La Roche University (Pa.) on Friday in the first round.

Hope, ranked No. 2 by d3hoops.com and No. 3 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll, closed the game on a 44-13 run in front of a DeVos Fieldhouse of 1,986.

"I thought our depth worked for us," head coach Brian Morehouse said. "I thought we put the pressure on defensively. I thought we kept the pressure on offensively, pushing the ball to the other end. We're thrilled to be moving on. I's going to be a great game against Marietta."

The MIAA co-champion Flying Dutch (27-1) will face Marietta College (Ohio) in a second-round game on Saturday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at DeVos Fieldhouse. The winner advances to sectional play next week.

Marietta, from the Ohio Athletic Conference, knocked off Wittenberg University (Ohio) in Friday's first game at Hope.

Tickets can be purchased at tickets.hope.edu or at the door beginning at 6 p.m.

Four Flying Dutch finished in double figures.

Seniors Kenedy Schoonveld and Olivia Voskuil, pictured from left, each scored 16 points on nearly identical shooting. Voskuil (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian HS) shot 72.7 percent from the floor (8-11), while Schoonveld (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian) was 63.6 percent (7-11).

Schoonveld became the fifth member of the Flying Dutch to achieve 1,400 career points during her career. With 1,404 points, she joins Amanda Kerkstra (1,568, 1999-2003), Francesca Buchanan (1,476, 2016-19), Carrie Snikkers (1,430, 2007-11), and Maura McAfee (1409, 2013-16).

Senior Sydney Muller (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Grand Rapids Christian) chipped 13 points. Junior guard Ella McKinney added 11 points off the bench.

Hope shot 53.8 percent from the field but 26.3 percent from 3-point range (5-19) and 45.8 percent from the foul line (11-24).

La Roche (18-6) held the lead once but kept responding when the Flying Dutch tried to pull away during the first half.

Guard Danajah Sanders scored a team-high 18 points, including eight consecutive points during the first half. Guard Ayanna Mazyck added 16 points.

"La Roche is a tough matchup for us, really talented at the guard spot, spread you out and make us do hard things the first half," Morehouse said. "I thought they just shot it great. i thought we responded well, made some adjustments at halftime defensively, made a few adjustments offenisvely."