Story by Mitch Blankespoor
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College women's basketball team entered conference play Wednesday, Dec. 4, looking for its first win of the season. The Hornets got what they were looking for, defeating the Alma Scots 79-57 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) opener for both teams.
"We knew this was a huge game for us," Kalamazoo Head Coach Katie Miller said. "It was good for us to score a lot of points and to have as many players in double figures as we did."
Alma, which came into the contest 0-5 on the season, scored the game's first basket. Kalamazoo junior guard Emily Lindsay answered with a three pointer. Another Lindsay three pointer with 15:44 remaining in the first half gave K a lead it would not relinquish.
Senior forward Nicole Antione finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-11 shooting. Lindsay finished 5-9 from beyond the arc accounting for all 15 of her points.
"Those two are our go-to players," said Miller. "They took good quality shots. The threes the Emily [Lindsay] took were open and Nicole was driving to the basket all game."
Junior forward Perri Nicholson and freshman guard Grace Smith were the other two in double figures in scoring for K with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Raeanna Zink led the Scots in defeat with 16 points while only missing two shots all game.
"We made an emphasis at halftime to force her [Zink] into tougher shots," Miller said. "She was getting too many easy looks early on."
As a team, K shot 48 percent for the game and held Alma to a mere 35 percent. The Hornets made the Scots pay for turning the ball over, manufacturing 20 points off of 20 Alma turnovers.
Kalamazoo also scored 17 points via the fast break and outscored the Alma bench 33-16.
The Hornets earn their first win of the 2013-14 season and improve to 1-4 and 1-0 in the MIAA. K returns to action Saturday, Dec. 7, when it travels to Kresge Gymnasium for a 3:00 p.m. game with Albion.