The Lady Tigers finished out the regular season with a hard fought battle against Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  Grace played without their two starting post players as Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) was out due to illness and Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) is still nursing a wrist injury so this was an uphill battle to begin with as Silver Lake features three six-footers in their playing rotation.

Grace came out in the first half and controlled the game with their defense, eventually opening up an eight point lead.  The Lady Tigers could not put Silver Lake away, however, as they missed some easy shots and the Lakers put on a rally toward the end of the first half to cut the Tiger lead to five at 24-19.

Both offenses woke up in the second half as Silver Lake started to establish their inside game and made a few from long range as well and Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) carried the Lady Tiger offense for a while as the Lakers struggled to contain her in the paint.  Once again, key turnovers and poor execution down the stretch burned the Lady Tigers as they fell by the final score of 66-62.

Anna Iwaniw, despite giving up at least three inches of height to her opponents, led the way for Grace with 25 points.  Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) added 11, Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) had nine, and Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) chipped in with eight.

“This game was another one of those games we had a real chance to win, but it didn’t happen”, Coach Renzema reflected after the game.  “We have had a lot of games like this where we had a lead in the second half and couldn’t hang on down the stretch.”

“I am very proud of the effort that was given today, especially since we were so short handed against a team with good size.  We battled hard and I think the experience these girls gain this year will benefit us next year and beyond.”

The Lady Tigers will travel to Chicago to participate in the NCCAA Midwest Regional where they will play Lincoln Christian on Thursday at 7 PM.