Women’s basketball team comes up short against Finlandia, 77-74

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team came up just short against Finlandia University, 77-74 tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Finlandia 77, Olivet 74
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Finlandia 3-12 overall, Olivet 5-8 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first quarter, the Comets took a four-point lead, 11-7. The Lions fought back with four straight points to tie the game at 11-11. There were three more tied scores, with the last one being 18-18. Finlandia made the last basket to take a 20-18 lead into the second quarter.
• Early in the second quarter, the Lions stretched their lead to five points twice, 23-18 and 25-20. Olivet answered with a 9-0 run for a 29-25 advantage. Finlandia closed the gap to a single point, 29-28 and 31-30. The Comets then used a 6-0 scoring spurt to take the largest lead for either team at 37-30. Finlandia netted two points in the closing seconds of the period to make the score 37-32 at halftime.
• In the third quarter, the Comets extended their lead to as many as eight points, 50-42, after freshman Grace Clark made a free throw to complete a three-point play at the 4:17 mark. The Lions responded with an 11-0 run in a two-minute span to go ahead 53-50. Olivet trailed by just two points, 57-55, at the end of the period.
• The Comets scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 62-57 lead. Olivet maintained its lead until Finlandia went ahead 68-66. The Comets leveled the score one more time at 68-68. The Lions scored the next two points on a jump shot and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet had four players reach double figures in the scoring column, led by Clark's 16 points.
• Freshman Fayth Talbert finished with 14 points.
• Senior Kadesha Taylor came off the bench to score 13 points.
• Freshman Grace White was a rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Both totals were career-highs.

FOR THE LIONS

• Three starters posted double-doubles. Julia Daavettila had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
• Lela Horne had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
• Kelsie Richards registered 12 points and game-high 13 rebounds.
• Taylor Pertile joined them in double figures with 14 points.
• Molly Berg dished out nine assists and scored nine points.

UP NEXT

• Olivet travels down I-69 to play defending MIAA champion Trine (Ind.) University Saturday at 3 p.m.