Olivet’s Comets are streaking. And Stefanie Lang is shining on the basketball court.
The 6-foot-4 senior from Valparaiso contributed 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Comets clinched the No. 4 seed in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament with an 83-78 victory over St. Mary’s. It was her 19th double-double of the season.
The Comets won four of their last five games and will bring a 14-11 record into the tournament. Wednesday against No. 1 seed Calvin College.
Lang won the MIAA scoring (17.9 points) and rebounding (13.1) titles with the help of a 33-point effort against Adrian in the previous game. It was the highest output of the season for either men or women in MIAA competition.
She also finished second in blocked shots with 37.
Lang has upped her career total to 1,196 points since transferring from Valparaiso University.
* Injury-depleted Michigan staged a major upset against No. 24 Ohio State behind point guard Spike Albrecht (Crown Point) on Sunday. He bewildered the Buckeyes with 16 points and seven rebounds in a 64-57 victory.
It was the sixth straight time Albrecht has scored in double figures. He also boosted his season total to 97 assists with five against Ohio State.
* Princess German (Gary/Bowman) has been named the January Student-Athlete the Month at Indianapolis. She averaged 21.5 points with a high of 30 in that month. Over the season she has hit double figures in 21 of 24 games and averages 17.9.
* Manchester’s Matt Brown (Hobart) makes a case for the most improved player in the Heartland Conference. His 17.3 average represents a plus-12 margin over the previous season.
* Amanda Corral (Hobart) boosted her career total to 1,423 with 16 points, but her potential game-winning shot trickled through the net a moment after time expired in Northern Illinois’ 51-50 loss to Ball State. She also collected a season-best four steals.
Track and field
LSU’s Tori Bliss (Portage) is ranked No. 2 nationally in the shot put. Her best indoor throw is 57-43.75.
She is 5-for-5 for the current season and reached 56-83.75 in her most recent outing. Bliss is a senior.
Swimming
Indiana’s women finished second to Minnesota in the Big Ten Championships. Shelby Carroll (Schererville/Lake Central) was clocked for 1:59.54 in the 200-yard backstroke and 2:05.10 in the 200 butterfly.
In the same meet, Iowa’s Olivia Kabacinski (Chesterton) posted a 23.24 in the 50 freestyle and recorded a personal-best time of 1:47.43 in the 200 freestyle. She owns single-season bests in those two events and the 100 freestyle.
* Ball State’s Traci Muszalski (Dyer/Lake Central) took thirds in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly in a dual at Toledo. She also helped the 200 medley relay finish second. Elaine Pitsas (Munster) chipped in for a second-place finish as part of the 400 freestyle relay.
Wrestling
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Bucknell’s Paul Petrov (Cedar Lake/Hanover Central) improved his record to 23-4 by defeating 125-pounder David White of Binghamton 5-3 in overtime.
John Mutka is a freelance writer.