Jessica demonstrates proper follow thru in an earlier game against Andrews.

On most days, the Grace women’s basketball team defeating Andrews University on the road, their sixth win in a row, would be a nice story.  Jessica Sikorski, however, added a significant side note to the game.  She became the leading scorer in the history of all women’s programs in the West Michigan area.  With her team-leading 25 points Tuesday night, Jessica surpassed Jen Rauch of Davenport University and now has a career total of 2424 points.

The Cardinals from Andrews put up a good fight in the first half as the Tigers fought for a 25-19 lead.   Grace continued the tough defense in the second half and got their offense going to finish off their hosts by a final score of 58-39.  Andrews only shot 21% from the field for the game compared to 38% for the Tigers. 

Other Tigers in double figures included Marissa Pelletier with 14 points and Kerie Rudd with 12.  Grace enjoyed a 48-37 rebounding advantage led by Jessica Sikorski with 16 and Marissa Pelletier with 11.

The Lady Tigers will next be in action on Saturday, February 4 when they take on formidable Indiana University Northwest at Calvin Christian High School.

Marissa Pelletier

The Lady Tigers made the five hour trip to Lincoln, Illinois without combo guard-forward Kerie Rudd, who was attending her sister’s wedding.  The Tigers were up to the challenge and came away with a decisive 67-44 victory over the hosts to post their fifth consecutive victory. 

The Tiger post tandem of Marissa Pelletier and Jessica Sikorski again showed their dominance and powered the way to victory.  Marissa led the way for Grace with 23 points and 15 rebounds.  Jessica posted her usual strong totals with 21 points and 16 rebounds.  Stephanie Miller contributed 11 points and six assists and Kara Cunningham scored nine points including a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line. 

The Lady Tigers will next be in action on Tuesday at Andrews University to take on the Cardinals.

Jessica Sikorski

The Lady Tigers opened up a little sluggish Thursday night at Great Lakes, falling behind 11-2 in the early going.  Fortunately, the team found their focus and overpowered Great Lakes by a final score of 81-43. 

Jessica Sikorski filled up the stat sheet again with 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists.  Stephanie Miller added 19  points, including a scorching 5 of 6 from the three point line.   Marissa Pelletier also had 19 points to go along with eight rebounds.  Kerie Rudd played another solid game with 17 points and led the team with seven assists. 

The Lady Tigers continue their string of road games on Saturday, January 28 when they travel to Illinois to take on regional foe, Lincoln Christian.

Stephanie Miller

The Lady Tigers had four players in double figures, led by another strong performance from Jessica Sikorski to defeat the Cougars from Kuyper College, 62-37.  The game featured three unusually long scoring runs and fortunately, the Tigers had the last and decisive run to seal the victory.  After going down early 5-4, Grace went on a 21-0 run to seemingly take control of the game.  The Cougars came right back with a 19-0 run of their own.  The Tigers went to the locker room with a 30-24 lead. 

The Lady Tigers came out in the second half with an emphasis on offensive execution and better defensive intensity and opened up a commanding lead, outscoring the Cougars 32-13 in the second half. 

“We had way too many turnovers and rushed shots in the first half,”  Coach Rich Renzema commented. “We moved the ball a lot better in the second half and got some open looks against their zone.”

“We are thrilled to maintain possession of the Cross Cup.  The team has worked hard and it is nice to have a trophy in the case to show for that hard work.”

Jessica Sikorski led the Tigers with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six assists.  Other double figure scorers included Marissa Pelletier and Stephanie Miller each with 12, and Kara Cunningham with 10. The Tigers owned a commanding 49-21 rebounding advantage. 

The Lady Tigers will next be in action on the road Thursday as they take on Great Lakes Christian in Lansing.

Jessica gets 2 more.

The Grace women’s basketball team has been a quick starting team for most of their games so far this season.  Friday night was an exception to that rule.  Coming off an emotional and hard fought win the night before, the Lady Tigers looked a step slow in the first half of their game against midwest regional foe, Northland International University. 

Northland came out with their guns blazing and knocked down five three-pointers in the opening half to come away with a 33-31 lead at half time.  The Tigers made some defensive adjustments and rode their All-American, Jessica Sikorski, to take control in the second half.  Jessica scored 18 second half points and finished with 31 for the game.  She also grabbed 25 rebounds, including 20 on the defensive end to control the paint all game long. 

Kerie Rudd also had a nice game with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.  She made a couple of nice driving layups late in the second half to help seal the victory.  Marissa Pelletier was also in double figures with 11 points.  Naomi Walker and Kara Cunningham each added four, and Stephanie Miller and Ashton Willis added two points apiece.

“We came out a little flat in the first half, which I almost expected to happen,” Coach Rich Renzema commented after the game.  “It is tough to come off an emotional and hard fought win the night before and come out with the same energy.  I am proud of the way they came out in the second half and gave it everything they had.  Jessica really controlled the inside tonight.  She was unstoppable and her rebounding on the defensive end allowed us to keep more pressure on their really good perimeter players.  I am very pleased with the two wins this weekend.  All of the girls did a great job.”

The Lady Tigers will take to the road next week as they play at Kuyper on Tuesday in the Cross Cup game.  Come out and support your Lady Tigers!!

Kerie Rudd

   

Kara Cunningham

Marissa Pelletier post up against Jacqui Mitchell of Moody Bible.

The first NCCAA coaches’ poll came out on Thursday and the Grace Lady Tigers came in at #8.  They wouldn’t have to wait long for the opportunity to move up as the #7 Archers from Moody rolled into town early Thursday evening.  Moody defeated Grace in a tightly contested game in the Tip Off Tournament in early December.  The Lady Tigers were coming off of their poorest performance of the season at IU Northwest on Tuesday and were looking to prove they were better than that showing.

Moody came out trying to use their size advantage to set the early tone of the game and jumped out to an early 13-7 lead.  Coach Rich Renzema used a time-out to re-emphasize some of the details of the new diamond and one defense implemented to help contain Moody’s strong point guard and minimize the damage that could be done by their front line that goes 6-3, 6-2, and 6-0.  The Lady Tigers responded well and actually opened up a double digit lead before heading ito the locker room with a 39-30 lead. 

The Tiger post tandem of Jessica Sikorski (Wyoming Park) and Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian), despite being much shorter than their opponents, worked well together and used their quickness advantage to get the Moody posts into foul trouble. 

Moody stormed back in the 2nd half and even took small leads on several occasions in the 2nd half.  The Tigers had even more adversity to overcome as Jessica Sikorski struggled with severe leg cramps and was unavailable for most of the last eight minutes of the game.  The Lady Tigers proved this was not a 1 person show and several girls made key plays down the stretch to come away with the hard fought victory.

Jessica Sikorski led the Tiger scoring with 21 points.  Marissa Pelletier played probably her best overall game in a Grace uniform with 17 points, 13 rebounds and tremendous defense.  Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) played another solid game with 18 points and nine rebounds. 

“I am very proud of the team tonight”, Coach Renzema said after the game.  “We played our best game of the year and the girls executed our offensive and defensive game plans very well, even some things that we had never even practiced.  I am very proud of how the team responded when Jessica wasn’t able to play.  This was a team win and every girl on the roster had a big part in this victory.”

The Lady Tigers won’t have long to celebrate as they take the court at the Aldrich Athletic Center again on Friday at 5 PM against Northland International University.

Naomi Walker

Ashton Willis played aggressively on defense.

  The Tigers had their 3 game win streak stopped by IUNW. The ladies came out flat and never recovered losing by a score of 85 – 30. The Tigers shoot 26% from the floor and were out rebounded by the taller IU team. Jessica Sikorski was held to a season low 9 points. Marissa Pelletier had 9 points followed by Kerie Rudd with 8.

  The Tigers hope to turn things around this Thursday when they host Moody Bible Institute at 5:00.

Kerie Rudd

The Lady Tigers stormed out of the gate and opened up an early 15 point lead over Mount Mary.   The Blue Angels were not about to go quietly, however, and used an up-tempo offense to close the gap to 35-30 at the half.  For a second straight day, the Lady Tigers played two solid halves and managed to hold off the visitors from Wisconsin with a final count of 66-58. 

Jessica Sikorski (Wyoming Park) was unstoppable on Saturday and paced the scoring with 33 points.  Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) and Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) were also in double figures with 15 and 12 points respectively. 

The Lady Tigers out-rebounded the Blue Angels by a 39-32 count.  Jessica Sikorski led with 14, Kerie Rudd had 12, and Marissa Pelletier contributed eight.  Naomi Walker made solid contributions with five assists and three steals. 

“This was a great weekend for us,” Coach Renzema said.  “All of our players made significant contributions to both victories.  Kara Cunningham is starting to make plays at the point guard after sitting out the first semester and Ashton Willis came in and played very solid defense in both games.  We have a tough week coming up and we will continue to need contributions from everyone.”

The Lady Tigers will travel to Indiana University Northwest on Tuesday before hosting Moody and Northland International on Thursday and Friday evenings. 

Stephanie Miller

Jessica Sikorski

The Lady Tigers have played well in most of the first halves of games so far this season, but lately have had a few second halves they would like to forget.  Head Coach Rich Renzema, while not big on long pre-game speeches, makes it a habit to write “Play Hard” on the board before every game.  Friday night, he added the key phrase “40 minutes” to his normal comment.  The players then demanded he place an exclamation point and underline it.  While that little true story may seem insignificant, the emphasis on playing a full 40 minutes showed Friday night as the Lady Tigers outscored Lincoln Christian in both halves to come away with a convincing 67-46 victory. 

Jessica Sikorski (Wyoming Park) led the way for the Tigers with 23 points, follwed by Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian)with 19.  Stephanie Miller (Wyoming Rogers) was also in double figures with 13.  The Tigers dominated the boards with a commanding 43-27 rebounding advantage, including 19 on the offensive end.  Sikorski had 15 rebounds and Pelletier had 13 to lead the way on the glass.  The starting Tiger post tandem also led the team with five assists each as they both played strong all-around games. 

“I was thrilled with the effort tonight,” Coach Renzema commented after the game.  “This was our best full game in a while and we didn’t have any signs of let-up or losing our poise down the stretch.  Lincoln has a few very good scorers and we did a great job containing them.”

The Lady Tigers will get put to the test again on Saturday as they host Mount Mary College at 1 PM.       

Marissa Pelletier

Jessica Sikorski (Wyoming Park) had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) had 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers to a solid 58-48 victory over the Cardinals of Andrews University.  Jessica did much of her damage in the first half with 15 in the opening frame when the Tigers opened up an 11 point lead at the break.   Kerie picked up in the second half where Jessica left off, scoring 14 points in the half and made some key plays down the stretch to seal the victory. 

“We played with a lot more composure down the stretch today than we did on Saturday”, Coach Renzema said after the game.  “We handled their pressure very well and used the clock to our advantage.  It feels good to get the victory and the girls worked hard to earn the win.”

The Tigers enjoyed a 41-30 rebounding advantage and got solid contributions from Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) with 8 points and 8 rebounds, and Stephanie Miller (Wyoming Rogers) with 5 pts and 7 boards. 

The Lady Tigers will be in action on Friday, January 13 as they host Lincoln Christian at the Aldrich Athletic Center at 7 PM.