Long breaks in the middle of a season are always tricky, but the Olivet Nazarene University Tiger women’s basketball team picked up right where they left off on Saturday, Jan. 5, when they hosted Holy Cross College (Ind.) to start the new year.
The Tigers had not taken the court in competition for 18 days, last defeating Waldorf University (Iowa) on Dec. 18, but came away with a big 92-78 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) win over the Saints.
Karina Smits, a freshman business major, led the offensive charge, knocking down a season-high 20 points. She was 7-for-9 for FG and 6-for-8 for three-pointers. She also had the team-high five steals and two assists.
“I was pleased to see our ladies being aggressive on both ends of the court,” says Head Coach Lauren (Stamatis) Glenn ’09 M.O.L. “Holy Cross is having a good year in the conference so that was a good win for us to start off the return from break.”
The Tigers ranked second in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II in seven statistical categories and in the top-10 in three additional categories.
- Offensive rebounds per game (18.882)
- Scoring offense per game (90.588)
- Steals per game (16.353)
- Total 3-point field goals made (196)
- Turnover margin (13.412)
- Total steals (278)
- Total scoring offense (1,540)
Olivet Tiger Kayla Ross — a sophomore majoring in sport management — ranks fourth in the NAIA Division II in total steals (54), fifth in steals per game (3.176), sixth in assists per game (5.294) and seventh in total assists (90). She is just four assists shy of becoming fifth all-time in Tiger program history with her current 431.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 9, on the road at Judson University (Ill.).
To learn more about the Olivet Tiger athletics program, contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@olivet.edu or 800-648-1463.
Reprinted with permission from onutigers.com.
Published: 1/8/2019
