The No.4 Dordt University women's basketball team's quest for its first ever Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason title came up short as the Defenders lost to 18th-ranked Briar Cliff 86-69 in tonight's GPAC championship game played at the De Witt Gymnasium.
Dordt, the GPAC regular season champion, will head to the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship - First Round with a 28-3 record. Dordt is one of the 16 sites for the 64-team field and will host a four-team, single-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to the 16-team, final site in Sioux City, Iowa. The NAIA will announce the first round pairings as part of the selection show on Thursday night, March 2, at 6pm.
Karly Gustafson scored 20 points, making 8-of-9 field goal attempts, and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Defenders.
Macy Sievers added 14 points, 10 in the first half, and
Janie Schoonhoven contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
Briar Cliff shot better than 70% from the field in both the first and fourth quarters, 58% for the game, and was led by Payton Slaughter, who poured in a game-high 23 points. Konnor Sudmann made 4-of-5 three-pointers en route to an 18-point effort while both Peyton Wingert (14) and Madelyn Deitchler (12) also scored in double figures for the visiting Chargers.
A basket from Schoonhoven tied the game at two in the opening moments but Briar Cliff used a 13-5 run to pull ahead and take the lead, a lead the Chargers would never relinquish. Dordt was within two (24-22) after a pair of free throws by Sievers with under a minute to go in the first quarter. Briar Cliff, however, closed on a 9-0 run and led 31-22 following a basket by Slaughter.
Briar Cliff continued its run into the opening minutes of the second quarter and went up by 13 on a lay-up by Deitchler and free throws from Slaughter. Back came the Defenders, however, scoring on three straight possessions on consecutive baskets by Sievers and free throws from Gustafson. Briar Cliff answered with an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the half, 46-30, after a lay-up by Kennedy Benne with 3:52 to go. Dordt rallied with a 9-2 run of its own, beginning with a
McKenna Klecker three-pointer. and had the Chargers lead down to nine, 48-39, by halftime.
Dordt scored the first three points of the third quarter to trim the Chargers lead down to six (48-42), the closest the Defenders would get in the second half. By quarters end, Dordt would be within eight, 62-54, in an evenly played third period.
A Sudmann three-pointer pushed the Briar Cliff lead back to 11 on the opening possession of the fourth and the teams traded baskets over the next three-plus minutes. Sievers knocked down a jumper in the lane to get Dordt to within 10 (72-62) but Briar Cliff answered with a decisive 11-2 run over the next three minutes to secure the win.
By The Numbers...
- Dordt shot 48% for the game and made 4/14 3-point attempts (29%)
- Briar Cliff shot its season best (58%) from the field, 63% from the arc, also a season-best
- The Defenders were outrebounded, 29-26, but had one more offensive board (7-6)
- Dordt committed 11 turnovers; BCU 10
- Gustafson scored in double figures for the 27th time this season
- Schoonhoven has scored in double figures in 25 games; Sievers in eight games.
