Kalamazoo, MI – The Grace women's basketball team moved to 6-4 on the season Monday evening after notching their first win of the season over an NCAA DIII opponent, defeating Kalamazoo College on the road, 56-55. The first three quarters the Tigers had a lot of up and downs, but everything came together in the fourth as Grace outscored the Hornets 25-15 to finish strong and escape with the win.

"Despite our slow start and struggle to get in our usual rhythm, our players rose above every challenge and got the job done," said Grace Head Coach Ashley Xiong Vang. "We went into the half knowing we had to take care of the ball and improved from 11-5 turnovers by the half. Our 4^th quarter spurt started to look and feel more like who we are as a whole. Ashley Hoek had another double-double performance and Ashlyn Wilkes knocked down some critical free throws to give us the win."

Ashley Hoek followed up her NCCAA National Student-Athlete of the Week honors last week with another solid performance with team highs of 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 blocks – her sixth straight double-double. Emily Libey and Megan George followed with 11 points each. Wilkes didn't have her best shooting night from the field but finished with 6 points – none more important than her final 2-2 trip to the line in the waning moments of the game.

After the Christmas holiday, the Tigers will return home to the Aldrich Athletic Center on December 28^th to face local rival Cornerstone University at 5:00 pm.