With outside shooting at a premium the last couple of weeks for the Hope College women’s basketball team, a quick barrage of 3-pointers led the team to an NCAA first-round win.
Sidney Vis hit an early 3, then Karsen Karlblom hit two in a row, both on assists from Vis as Hope built a double-digit lead and defeated Ripon 65-54 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament at DePauw (Ind.) University.
“Always great to advance. We were able to beat a really great team and really locked down in the third,” Hope coach Brian Morehouse said. “We started the year unranked and had most of our players who have never played in the NCAA tournament. I am excited about the growth of this group. We have toughed a lot of games out.”
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Olivia Bellows and Jada Garner added 3s late in the half and Karlblom hit another as Hope led 33-28 at the break.
Hope improved to 25-3, while Ripon ended its season 19-9. Hope got an at-large bid after being defeated by Trine in the MIAA finals.
“We all wanted to win (against Trine) and we just had to put it behind us and continue our season,” Garner said.
The Flying Dutch made nine 3s in the game and shot 42.4% from the field.
MIAA MVP Garner had 15 points, four assists and two steals. Bellows scored 15 points off the bench, while Karblom had nine points and Vis scored eight. Raven Jemison grabbed nine rebounds.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: MIAA MVP Jada Garner, barrage of 3s, leads Hope women past Ripon
