A streak continues.
The nationally-ranked Hope College women's basketball team notched another win against Calvin University to continue its 19-game win streak against the Knights.
The win streak began after a three-game sweep during the 2017-18 season.
The 72-64 victory on Saturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena pushed Hope to 11-2 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.
Calvin still leads the all-time series against Hope, 67-71, but since 2000 the Flying Dutch have been in control, winning 51 of the past 66 meetings.
After a 25-point first quarter, Hope led Calvin (6-7, 2-2 MIAA) 42-30 at halftime.
The Knights wouldn't go easily though, and Hope was on the lookout.
"In these kind of games, you kind of have to expect that. You know how tough the Rivalry is going to be, and I just knew we were going to come back because we were playing good defense and we were playing together," said Olivia Bellows.
"We knew that Calvin wasn't going to give up, this is the Rivalry, it is a game of runs. We knew we had to come out strong [out of the half]," chimed in senior Jada Garner.
The Knights outscored Hope 23-14 in the third quarter, pulling within three points. Hope's defense stiffened after that, holding Calvin scoreless for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The third quarter, or better known as a roller coaster of scoring, saw Hope up by as much as 10 three different times, including the start of the second half, and also had the Knights as close as three points twice within the final minute.
Garner (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow HS) was Hope's top scorer in this edition of The Rivalry. Garner, who was one point away from a career-high game, put in a game-high 19 points while going perfect from the line, sinking all six free throw attempts.
The guard notched 15 of her 19 points in the second half to help hold off the Calvin strike.
Bellows (Lake City, Michigan / Lake City) put up 12 points after visiting the charity stripe the most times for Hope, making eight of 10 attempts.
Senior Courtney Lee (Fishers, Indiana / Fishers), freshman Leah Richards (DeWitt, Michigan / Lansing Catholic), and Bellows shared a team-high five rebounds.
Richards also added 10 points in the victory, with one steal in the fourth quarter that fired up the Hope bench.
"That was an emotional moment," said head coach Brian Morehouse. "When your 6'2" freshman post player gets a steal, it's extra special. Our players just really get excited for each other and you could see our bench was insane at that moment."
Morehouse thought it was everything that you could want out of a rivalry game.
"Big swings and emotion, great huge plays, players just making big plays one after another. I think Calvin is the top defensive team in the country, so to get anywhere near 70 points is amazing."
Hope is back in action on the road at another MIAA powerhouse, taking on Trine University on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 3 p.m.
