Women’s basketball team defeats Adrian, 66-62, for fourth straight win

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team won its fourth straight game with a 66-62 victory over Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Adrian College tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. With the win, the Comets improve their overall record to 5-1 and stay perfect in the MIAA with a 3-0 mark. In addition, the last time Olivet started the season with a 5-1 record was the 2004-05 season.

Adrian jumped out to a 12-2 lead before the Comets went on a 12-2 run to knot the score at 14-14 just past the midway point of the first half. The Bulldogs continued to lead until junior Chelsea Ciba (Olivet) gave Olivet the lead for the first time in the game with a fastbreak layup at the 4:34 mark. Adrian answered with a basket, but senior Mellissa Bageris (Milford) responded with her own basket to put the Comets ahead for good, 23-20. That score stayed at halftime.

Olivet opened the second half with a 5-0 run to build its biggest lead, 28-20, of the game. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the game at 28-28, 31-31 and 33-33, but they never took the lead. Late in the game, the Comets stretched their lead to nine points two times, with the last one being 60-51 with 2:56 left in the game.

Olivet had a balanced scoring attack, led by senior Sydney Radde's (Stevensville/Lakeshore) game-high 14 points. Ciba scored a season-high 13 points, while junior Kelsey Campbell (Olivet) had 11. Senior SoQuitta DeShazor (Flint/Hamady) narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Raven Anderson and Amy Van Gessel  paced Adrian with nine points apiece.

The Comets will take the rest of the week off for fall semester final exams and be back in action next Monday, Dec. 10, when they travel to play Oberlin (Ohio) College at 6 p.m.