The historic winning streak of the Hope College women’s basketball team is now a thing of the past.
Trine University defeated the Flying Dutch 70-62 on Wednesday night at DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland in front of a season-high 2,380 fans, ending Hope’s 61-game winning streak. It was Hope’s first loss since losing in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Related: Longest winning streak in college basketball lives in Michigan, at Hope College
The streak was the longest in program history and the longest current winning streak in the entire NCAA, regardless of division. The 61 games also tied Hope for the third-longest winning streak with Thomas More College of Kentucky from 2015 at 17.
Hope, 16-1 overall and 8-1 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, trailed 36-26 at halftime. Trine (7-1, 14-2), ranked fourth in this week’s D3hoops.com poll and seventh in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association standings, held off the Flying Dutch in the second half.
Hope came on strong in the stretch, cutting the deficit to 64-62 with 44 seconds left in regulation time. However, Thursday closed the match with a 6-0 run.
The Flying Dutch outshot the Thunder 46-34, but Trine shot 49% from the floor to Hope’s 27%. Trine was 10 of 22 from 3-point range while the Flying Dutch were 3 of 20.
Tara Bieniewicz led the Thunder with 18 points. Meg Morehouse came off the bench to lead the Flying Dutch with 14 points.
The Flying Dutch went 29-0 in 2020 and finished 16-0 a year ago before picking up 16 straight wins to start this season. There was no Women’s Division 3 post-season tournament in 2021 due to the pandemic, and the previous year Hope had moved to the Sweet 16 before the season was canceled.
Hope will be back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. at Albiono College.
