HOPE TITLE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Flying Dutch cap dominant 3-season run with national championship

PITTSBURGH — It was the exclamation point to end a three-season run of dominance.

The Hope College women's basketball team, after two full calendar years of waiting and praying through COVID pauses, has finally won a national championship, the third in program history. After losing only once during the past three seasons, the Flying Dutch proved to the entire outside world that they are the best Division III team in the nation with a 71-58 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday.

It's the team's 77th win in their last 78 games, losing just once since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. They've been ranked No. 1 in the nation throughout the overwhelming majority of the last 24 months, too. During the 2020 tournament, the group made it to the round of 16 before the onset of the pandemic cut short their shot of cutting down the nets. Last season, the NCAA called off the Tournament months before it was set to begin.

But now, 738 days since they were told they wouldn't be able to compete for the ultimate prize, the long wait finally paid off.

"Closure ... it feels really really, really good. It feels better than I thought it was going to feel," said head coach Brian Morehouse. "It makes you wonder what the two years before could have been because we've been pretty good for the last three years ... but we don't have any control over that. We controlled what we can control today."

They finally got the chance to settle it on the floor, with what was a quintessential Hope game early on, as the defense took charge. Morehouse’s team was at a disadvantage when it came to size, so they clogged up the paint, making it nearly impossible for the Warhawks to get any traction in the post. It worked well, but then Whitewater found a rhythm with their other deadly weapon - the 3-pointer.

In the first half alone, the Warhawks drilled six shots from beyond the arc, good for 44%. That was something Hope couldn’t match, shooting just 29% from long-range in the first half. But they were able to find success in the lane, scoring 16 of their 34 halftime points in the paint.

The battle of styles resulted in a back and forth first two quarters. In the first 20 minutes of action, there were seven ties and seven lead changes and when the halftime horn sounded, the teams were all knotted up at 34. But the tide started to noticeably turn over the final few minutes of the first half. Hope got one rebound and another and then kept getting boards. They out-boarded the Warhawks 19-24 at the break.

"We made a couple of adjustments, but the last three minutes of the first half we started to rebound," Morehouse said. "We just said if we out-rebound them in the second half then we're going to win."

The Flying Dutch left no doubt in the final 20 minutes, finishing the game with 11 more boards than their opponent. They came out fast and broke the halftime tie with a layup from senior Kate Majerus, which sparked a 6-0 run. From that point on, there were no more ties, no more lead changes. It was Hope's game to win and everybody in the building could sense it.

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The group outscored Whitewater 37-24 over the final two frames, increasing their lead more and more virtually every time they had the ball. Sydney Muller, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, finished the game with 18 points. She was able to keep the team afloat in the first half when the offense sputtered.

But it wasn't Muller who put the hammer down for Hope, it was junior Ella McKinney, who came into the game averaging fewer than nine points per game. Not only did she lead the team in scoring with 21, but she posted a new career-high in the national championship game. Performing under that kind of pressure is nothing new to her, though. She always has the biggest games of her career on the most pivotal nights. She scored 13 in a four-point win to claim the MIAA Tournament title over Trine just last month.

Claire Baguley, the Elite 90 Award winner, was also big off the bench with eight points and played her best games of the season in the NCAA tournament.

"I just came in tonight knowing that my teammates have my back, we've been saying that we're friends and teammates all season now and I think it just showed tonight," McKinney said. "I knew they had my back and I could go out there, play free and trust them and know they trusted me."

McKinney's dominant streak helped put the cherry on top of the careers of six seniors. Three of them, the "super seniors" Olivia Voskuil, D3 Player of the Year Kenedy Schoonveld and Muller, came back for an extra season after the COVID pandemic wiped out any chance they had at winning a ring. Voskuil and Schoonveld have a career record of 130-8 while Muller's record at Hope is 100-7 after transferring from Cornerstone following her freshman campaign, a true tenure of excellence for all three.

When they decided to come back for one last ride at the end of last season, they delayed starting their lives in graduate school, which all of them still plan to attend next year. For the past 24 months, they've had one thing on their mind and they weren't going to leave Holland without at least having an opportunity to claim their rightful spot at the top of the Division III mountain.

Now that their dreams have become a reality. every second of twiddling their thumbs and waiting for a shot has all been worth it. All three of them, along with the other 13 women on the roster, will live in Hope College athletics lore for all of eternity.

"It's been the best ride," Schoonveld said. "To win a National Championship is something I've dreamed about since I was a little kid. ... So it just means the world to me to be here and to hopefully leave my mark on the program so they can continue their success."

—Contact Assistant Sports Editor Will Kennedy at Will.Kennedy@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByWillKennedy and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College women's basketball wins national championship over Wisconsin-Whitewater