No.15 Dordt University pushed its win streak to five as they downed Dickinson State 70-46 in their final game at the Pizza Ranch Classic in Orange City, Iowa. The Defenders stay unbeaten, improving to 5-0, while the Blue Hawks drop to 3-4.
Karly Gustafson poured in a game-high 22 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Bailey Beckman added 17 points and became the 20th player in program history to score 1,000+ points in a career. Beckman joins her teammate, Gustafson, who reached the milestone earlier this season in a Defenders win against Bellevue.
A fast start propelled Dordt out to an 11-2 advantage after a basket by
Eliana Kuperus with 3:53 left in the first quarter. With the Defenders in front 17-6 by quarters end, Dordt used an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 25-6 after a couple of free throws by Gustafson. Dordt held the Blue Hawks scoreless for nearly five minutes, stemming from the final 1:30 of the first quarter.
Leading 38-15 at the half, Dordt finished off a 15-6 run with a couple of
Macy Sievers free throws to extend its lead to 53-24 with 3:21 left in the third quarter. The Defenders, who never trailed against Dickinson State, held their biggest lead (63-32) after a lay-up by Gustafson early in the fourth quarter and went on to win their fifth straight game by double-digits.
By the Numbers...
- Dordt shot 43% for the game compared to 32% by the Blue Hawks
- playing in back-to-back games, both teams struggled to shoot from the perimeter
- Dordt - 2/23 - 9%
- Dickinson State - 2/21 - 9%
- Dordt had the upper hand in rebounding by a slight 39-37 margin
- Beckman surpassed the 1,000-point milestone with a three-pointer in the first quarter
- Gustafson recorded the 17th double-double of her career
- Macy Sievers matched her career best with six assists
- the Defenders held Dickinson State leading scorer, Samantha Oase, to 6 points, 12 below her season average
- Lindsay Peterson and Heather LaBree led the Blue Hawks with eight points each
