Both nationally ranked teams advanced to the title game with semi-final victories on Thursday, Hope defeating Olivet 78-51 and Calvin topping Alma 63-52.
The winner of Saturday's championship game will gain an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament while the loser will have to wait to see if an at-large bid is extended. Hope defeated Calvin twice during the regular season, including 71-46 at the DeVos Fieldhouse where the Flying Dutch are now 13-0 this season.
Hope's victory over Olivet was hard-fought. Early-on the teams exchanged the lead five times and were tied on three occasions, the last 16-16 with 9:28 before intermission. The Flying Dutch scored the next nine points and never looked back building their lead to 38-25 at halftime. Hope scored the first 11 points in the second half.
Senior Bria Ebels, who is now fifth on the alltime Hope scoring list, scored 24 points in 26 minutes of play. She raised her career total to 1,129 points. Sophomore Jordyn Boles added 12 points while Ellen Wood was credited with eight rebounds.
The Hope defense held leading MIAA scorer Audrey Graham to a single basket. She entered the game averaging nearly 19 points.
Olivet committed 32 turnovers as the Flying Dutch had 24 steals, including six by Bria Ebels and four by Julie Henderson.