The number four ranked Whitewater women’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season after being defeated by Calvin 66-64. 

It was a close game the whole way as both teams would trade buckets in the first quarter. Calvin came out with the lead at the end of the first with a score of 19-15. 

Whitewater came out slow in the second quarter but were able to come within two after a big three from sophomore Kacie Carollo. Calvin started to get hot and would go onto a 7-2 run. With Calvin’s lead starting to grow, Whiteater started to get hot and would end the quarter with a run of their own as they took a 34-31 lead before halftime.

Calvin would not go away, which kept that game close, but Whitewater eventually got hot again with a huge run to put them up 48-41. 

Calvin would go on a run at the end of the third quarter to bring them within one. Whitewater would retake the lead multiple times in the fourth but Calvin was always there to answer right back to keep the game close. With a minute fifty left in the game Whitewater would make a huge basket to put them up two. But on the very next possession Calvin guard Sidney Cleary would come up huge hitting a three and Calvin would take a one point lead. Whitewater was not able to score the rest of the way and was forced to foul. Calvin hit a free throw that brought the final score to 66-64.

It was a tough shooting night for Whitewater. The game was in reach the whole time for the Warhawks but they just couldn’t get it done at the free throw line shooting just 10 of 19.

“They did a great job against us defensively. They played really well against us, disrupting shots. So I give Calvin a lot of credit for how they were tough on us. They played really well against us on the ball which led to a lot of missed shots,” says head coach Keri Carollo. 

   This was a huge upset for Calvin as they hope to carry the momentum into their tough conference schedule including the number one team in the country Hope College. 

“We play really good teams. This game will really help us prepare for the conference schedule. We hope to use this as a springboard for the season. We have a lot of respect for Whitewater. We have played them in previous seasons so we knew what we were getting ourselves into and we did just enough to hang in there despite the turnovers,” says Calvin head coach Mark Christner. 

Whitewater will look to bounce back and get back on the right track as they will head to face La-Crosse to open up WIAC conference play. That game will take place, Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.