GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Golden Eagles begin holiday hoops action with a single game this week as they will travel to Spring Arbor on Saturday, December 18 for a 1 p.m. tip. The two teams will now meet for the fourth consecutive year, as Cornerstone looks to increase their win streak to three straight at the Cougars. For more information on how to watch the game live, visit the link HERE. 


Last Week Recap

Cornerstone won back-to-back games for the first time in the 2021-22 season, picking up wins two and three with a 65-61 win vs. Roosevelt and a 72-64 win at Lourdes for their first WHAC victory. The Golden Eagles are now 3-9, 1-6 WHAC as they will play three more games during the month of December, at Spring Arbor, at Grace Christian, and at Davenport. 

Undefeated in Third Quarters

The third quarter continues to be the story of the Golden Eagles season as they are now 3-0 when winning that quarter and 0-9 when losing it. Coming into this week, Cornerstone had been outscored by 73 points in the third period, but in the pair of wins, CU slashed that mark significantly as it is now down to -50. Cornerstone erupted for a season high 31 point third at Lourdes on Saturday, as they outscored the Gray Wolves by 18. 

WHAC Player of the Week

Sophomore Mackenzie Stien earned CU's first WHAC Player of the Week award since the 2019-20 when Ally Richards recorded the honor. Stien scored 19 points in each game this week to lead Cornerstone and had a career high eight assists against Roosevelt with a career high eight boards against Lourdes. 

First Time since 2016

Redshirt sophomore point guard Kennedy Helderop snuck in six steals in a win at Lourdes on Saturday, which is the most steals for a CU player since the 2015-2016 season. Jesse Sheridan was the last player to have 6+ steals, recording seven against Marygrove back in January of 2016. Helderop is the team leader in steals in 2021-22 with 24 so far this year to average two a contest. 

History vs. Spring Arbor

Cornerstone and Spring Arbor have met in each of the last three seasons under the direction of Head Coach Jessica Yonkers. In those three games, CU has gone 1-2 as they won by three in 2020 and lost by three in 2021. Oddly, since 2000, Cornerstone all-time has had more success at Spring Arbor than at home going 9-3 in the Cougars gym and just 9-6 in Mol Arena. Since 2000, Cornerstone is 18-9 all-time against SAU with their longest winning streak being seven straight from 2008-2014. 

Scouting the Cougars 

Spring Arbor has lost their last three contests, most recently falling at WHAC foe Madonna on Tuesday night, 57-40. Spring Arbor's offense has struggled all year averaging 54.0 points per game, which ranks 215th in the NAIA. SAU has had three games this season they have scored under 40 points under interim Head Coach Eric Salsbury. The Cougars are incredibly young as a lot of players have transferred or graduated the last couple years, as they have 10 freshmen on the roster this season. Senior forward Grace Shoobridge leads the team with 11.9 PPG, while freshman forward Taylor Folkema is second on the team with 11.0 PPG. The one thing that SAU has been doing well this season is using their size to defend the rim as they average 4.4 blocks per game, which is nearly three more than their opponents.