By Ross Weener

Sports Editor

They were the hottest team in the MIAA, and everybody knew it. The Albion Britons, who would have thought it--a team that hasn't had a 17-win season since the 1983 season. Although they were only able to garner a fourth seed in the MIAA tournament, the Britons have beaten Hope twice by a combined 13 points over their last two meetings. Not bad considering Hope (24-2) has only lost twice all year, both at the hands of the Britons. Calvin, on the other hand, was not concerned with who was the favorite to win the league, but rather going to Kresege Gymnasium and picking up a tough win on the road. Fortune did not favor the Knights as their bid for the upset fell short on Tuesday night, bowing to the Britons 64-54.

Calvin fought hard the entire game, but often out of a sizeable deficit on the scoreboard. Entering the game the Britons were riding a two game win streak, while Calvin was trying to stop a two game slide. Calvin started the game off with a bang, dictating the style of play into their fast paced brand of offense, and jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. Albion answered right back, chipping away at the Knight's armor with a 13-2 run. Back and forth it went throughout the first 13 minutes of the first half, as the Knights closed the gap to 19-18 on a three pointer by freshman Kristen McDonald. If the Knights have had a weakness this year it has been their inability to score, especially to close out the first half. It was a bad time for this weakness to surface--but it did, and the ramifications of this scoring drought haunted the Knights for the duration of the game. Over the final seven minutes and twenty-one seconds of the first half Albion went on a crucial 9-2 run to claw its way to a 28-20 halftime advantage.

``Too many times this year we would dig ourselves into holes and then we would work like the dickens to get out of the hole, and almost get to the top and just get knocked down again,'' Gall said. ``We just couldn't get over that hump. It's the difference between playing ahead and playing from behind.''

The second half proved the resilience of the Knights as they battled back from holes as big as 12 points, and an Albion lead that normally hovered around ten points. Calvin was able to cut the Briton lead to four points on two occasions, but could never get over that proverbial hump.

The straw that broke the camels back came with only 57 seconds left in the game and Albion leading 57-51. Calvin sophomore guard Kim Wolthuis came up with a clean steal and pressed the ball up the court on the fast break. As she swooped in for a layup she was hacked from behind, with a no call from the referee. On top of that apparent bad call, it appeared as though Albion was clearly out of bounds in their attempt to save the ball and retain possession. With Albion receiving the better end of that deal Calvin was forced to foul and put the MIAA's leading free-throw shooter, Becky Campbell (89%) at the line for a double bonus opportunity. Instead of a having only a four point deficit with a foul being called at the other end Calvin was looking at a eight point hole 59-51 after a pair of Campbell conversions. The call wouldn't have won Calvin the game, but it may have given them a better chance at winning. Ending the season on a three-game losing streak was punishment enough, but now the Knights have to sit through the off-season with that bitter taste in their mouth.

Without criticizing the referees Gall spoke to the effect that the no-call had on her team. ``Again, there are lots of other reasons why one team loses and the other one doesn't. That no-call was the last straw because it was only a six-point game at that point. You make the layup or get the foul call and you make your two free throws and now the lead is four. It makes it a different game because it is only a two possession game.''

Calvin was led in scoring by junior Tricia Dyk, netting 14 points while adding four assists and three steals. McDonald tossed in a career-high 13 points, converting 4-7 from behind the three point line. Junior center Emily Beard also chipped in with eight points and 12 rebounds.

The starting five of Albion hurt the Knights, as four of them scoring in the double digits. Junior Becky Campbell led the way for the Britons as she finished with 16 points.

``She was the one who hurt us the most,'' noted Gall. ``She did it with her ability to drive and from the free throw line.''

In hindsight Gall recalls the year for the Knights, who finished 12-13 overall and 7-7 in the MIAA. ``It's been a year of ups and downs. We had spells of time where we looked really well and played very good and we had a period of time where there was a glitch in the system and we played poorly. Overall we had very good effort displayed in our games, but one thing we need to do better is to produce better in game time situations.''