Hope College

On a day filled with rivalry matchups of all kinds, the Hope College women's basketball team claimed a big rivalry win of its own Saturday afternoon to capture the second annual Michele Schoon Tournament at DeVos Fieldhouse.

The Flying Dutch overcame an early 10-point deficit, built a double-digit lead, then held off a late rally to defeat Illinois Wesleyan University 73-65 to claim the tournament championship.

It was the sixth time the Flying Dutch and the Titans had faced each other in the last five seasons, with Hope winning five of those games. The Flying Dutch defeated IWU twice last season – first to win the championship of the first Schoon Tournament, then again in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament – with both of those wins coming in overtime.

"You've got Michigan State-Michigan, you've got Calvin-Hope – this is a rivalry," head coach Brian Morehouse said after the game. "These are two great teams, two nationally-ranked teams that have been going at it for a long time. This is a rivalry, and it's appropriate, I think, on Rivalry Weekend that two great programs go at it."

Hope entered the game ranked No. 4 nationally in the d3hoops.com Division III poll and No. 8 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll, while the Titans came in ranked No. 20 in the WBCA preseason poll.

The Michele Schoon Tournament honored the memory of Michele Sterk '91 Schoon, a key member of Hope's first national champion women's basketball team in 1990 and recipient of the 2023 Hope For Humanity award. Schoon later was an assistant coach for the Flying Dutch early in Morehouse's coaching career. She passed away in May of 2023 after a courageous battle against cancer.

Illinois Wesleyan gave the Flying Dutch fits early on with its press, resulting in several turnovers. The Titans ran off 14 straight points to take a 16-6 lead seven minutes into the game.

Hope made several adjustments, including playing two point guards – senior Terin Maynard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Jenison) and sophomore Josie DeSmit (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville) – on the court at the same time, and the Flying Dutch battled back. Hope closed out the first half on a 14-5 run, capped by a 3-pointer by DeSmit with 22 seconds remaining, to even the score at 27-all.

"We were sped up in the first eight minutes, but I thought we made a nice comeback. I thought the second quarter was the best we played all year long," Morehouse said.

The lead changed hands five times in the third quarter before sophomore guard Gillian Sorrelle (Grand Haven, Michigan / Grand Haven) nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Hope ahead for good at 40-39. Sorelle later made a layup, then in the final seconds of the quarter hustled to keep the ball inbounds, leading to junior guard Anna Richards (DeWitt, Michigan / Lansing Catholic) banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish off an 11-2 run that gave the Flying Dutch a 48-41 lead.

After going 1-for-10 on 3-point shots in the first half, Hope found its shooting stroke in the second half, hitting 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. The Flying Dutch took their biggest lead at 67-55 on a DeSmit 3-pointer with three minutes to play. IWU fought back, reeling off eight straight points to cut the lead to 67-63 with 1:18 left.

However, DeSmit made two layups after Hope broke the Titan press, sandwiched around two Anna Richards free throws, and the Flying Dutch held on.

Morehouse spoke after the game about the importance of playing quality opposition early on in the season. This year's Schoon Classic featured three teams that all played in the NCAA tournament last year and had a combined record of 62-21.

"Right now, in the NCAA, if you don't schedule good, hard games for NPI, you're in trouble," Morehouse said. "The hard part about scheduling good games is that you get zero credit if you lose them, zero, you have to win them."

Hope shot 40.6 percent from the field (26-of-64) for the game while limiting IWU to 34.8 percent (23-of-66). After committing five turnovers in the first quarter, the Flying Dutch turned the ball only seven more times over the final 30 minutes.

Junior center Leah Richards (DeWitt, Michigan / Lansing Catholic) led Hope with a double-double performance, scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, as she was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. 

DeSmit also had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers, as she was named to the All-Tournament team.

Anna Richards narrowly missed a double-double as she scored 10 points, grabbed nine boards, and handed out five assists. Maynard dished out eight assists while committing just one turnover in 34 minutes of action.

Olivia Corson led Illinois Wesleyan (1-1) with 23 points.

Hope returns to action on Friday, Nov. 13 against Wittenberg (Ohio) University in the Hope-Calvin Tournament at DeVos Fieldhouse. Tip-off is 7 p.m.