The Hope College women’s basketball team experienced the ultimate double-whammy.
The Flying Dutch’s national championship dreams were ripped away in back-to-back seasons. What they haven’t lost is their desire to play … or a single game.
Last March, they were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Division III when they learned prior to their NCAA Sweet 16 game that their season was over due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It happened all over again this winter. On February 3, just after the team defeated top conference opponent Trine, it learned that due to low participation numbers among member schools, the Division III Administrative Committee had canceled this year’s national tournament.
“Everyone went home and thought this year would be another chance to get back on a national title run,” sophomore guard Ella McKinney said Thursday. “Just to hear the news that we wouldn’t get the chance again, it just kind of pulled the floor under your seat.”
The next day, coach Brian Morehouse gave his crestfallen team the option of taking the rest of the season off. That wasn’t even a consideration for his 18-player squad.
“Everyone wanted to keep playing. Everyone, 1 through 18, voted yes,” Morehouse said Thursday. “I’ll be honest, I can’t believe how good it’s been. The joy they’ve played with, the concentration, never complaining about not having an NCAA tournament. They’re just playing with pure joy every day of practice and every single game. It’s taught me a ton about this generation.”
The Flying Dutch entered their MIAA championship against Trine on Saturday on a 44-game win streak, including 15 victories this season, and ranked No. 1 in the country. They won, 64-54.
“It’s a big deal for us,” senior Kenedy Schoonveld said Thursday of the streak. “It’s hard to get there. It takes a lot of hard work to be able to achieve something like that but at the same time, it’s not something we’re always focusing on. We take every game very seriously.”
For awhile, Hope wasn’t sure it would have a season. The Flying Dutch began practicing on a limited basis in the fall but a COVID-19 outbreak in the western part of the state forced a shutdown. They didn’t begin practicing in earnest until early January, and wound up playing about half as many games as they normally would.
“A crazy rollercoaster,” Schoonveld said. “Super thankful we’ve been allowed to play these last six weeks or so. It’s been a wild ride but still a lot of fun to be out there with the team right now.”
Like all college teams, Hope has dealt with COVID-19 protocols and the MIAA guidelines have been stricter than most leagues. Along with getting tested regularly, the players have been required to wear masks during conditioning, practices and games. No corners have been cut.
“Every single moment, every single day, every single time, we’ve worn a mask,” Morehouse said.
For senior Sydney Muller, who suffered an ACL injury last season, it has been a particularly uncomfortable experience. She’s asthmatic.
“It’s hard enough to run without one,” she said. “Adding that in is no fun at all.”
What Muller does enjoy is Morehouse’s system of getting everyone involved. Each player on the roster has appeared in a minimum of nine games. No one is averaging more than 19.1 minutes, and Schoonveld is the only player averaging double digits in scoring at 10.1 per game entering Saturday.
“He likes everybody getting the chance to play. I think it’s really awesome,” said Muller, who averages 9.3 points. “It’s different. Not everyone likes it. I personally think it’s awesome because you’re showcasing 18 people’s talent. Your second five is as good as your first five and your third five is as good as the first or second five.”
Running fresh bodies in and out of the game has allowed Hope to hold opponents to 30.6% shooting and force an astounding 24.9 turnovers per game.
“We’re very high tempo on offense and defense,” Morehouse said. “What we do defensively takes a lot of energy. There’s no way you can play 34 minutes in our defensive system.”
Morehouse doesn’t have scholarships to hand out but recruits players who could go to Division I or II schools, selling the program’s long-term success and Hope’s academic reputation. College players were granted an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic but most or all of his nine seniors will either enter the workforce or pursue Master’s degrees.
“I think their cumulative GPA is a 3.8 — and Hope is hard,” he said.
Seeing the opportunity of finishing 33-0 and winning a national title last year stripped away from them was just as difficult. Morehouse remembers the exact date and time — March 12, 4:21 p.m. — when he got the news.
“That was incredibly disappointing,” he said. “A lot of life lessons were taught and learned. We went through sort of a classic grief pattern when you lose something that’s really super important to you. And it continued on for a long time.”
Hope had to deal with the same loss of opportunity this season but the disappointment didn’t linger. There were still games to be played, games players were not going to give up. The conference championship on Saturday took on added meaning.
“This game for myself and my team,” Muller said, “is kind of our national championship that we never got.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Hope College basketball overcame pandemic to build 45-game win streak
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