No.1 seed Dordt University held off No.8 seed Doane 85-75 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) women's basketball quarterfinal match-up played tonight at the De Witt Gym.
The Defenders, ranked second in the latest NAIA Coaches' poll, improve to 27-2 on the season; Doane ends its season with a 16-13 mark.
Macy Sievers came two assists and a rebound shy of her first career triple-double as the sophomore led the Defenders with 18 points to go with nine boards and eight assists.
Bailey Beckman netted 17 points, all in the second half; both Beckman and Sievers made four three-pointers.
Janie Schoonhoven contributed 13 points and eight rebounds while
Eliana Kuperus scored a career-high 12 points and matched her career-high with seven boards.Â
The Defenders started fast in front of its home crowd, scoring eight straight points en route to a 12-2 lead just four minutes into the contest. Doane scored the final five points of the initial period and managed to cut the Defenders lead down to five (19-14) by the end of the quarter.
Dordt responded with an 8-0 run at the start of the second quarter, taking a 27-14 lead after consecutive baskets by
Gracie Schoonhoven. The Defenders pushed their lead to 15 (36-21), the largest of the first half, following a three-pointer by Sievers and a jumper by Kuperus with 2:32 left in the half. Dordt's lead was 38-26 at intermission.
Doane managed to cut the hosts lead to seven (38-31) after scoring the first five points of the second half. Dordt answered with an 11-2 run, getting three-pointers from Beckman (2) and
Willow Bleeker followed by another basket from Kuperus, to take its largest lead (49-33) at the mid-point of the third quarter. The Tigers slowly cut the Dordt lead down to 10 (59-49) by the end of the period.
The final period saw the teams play even for most of the period with the Defenders leading by as much as 15 (72-57) and the Tigers getting as close as seven (73-66) with 3:21 left. A three-point play from Beckman and four straight free throws by Sievers helped secure the Defenders win.
Mak Hatcliff, the GPAC's leading scorer this season, led the Tigers with 25 points and Maddie Portwine added 14 for the Tigers.Â
By the Numbers:
- Dordt had the advantage in both field goal percentage (47% - 33%) and 3-point percentage (38% - 29%)
- Doane had the big edge at the free throw line (Doane: 26/28, Dordt: 16/21)
- the Defenders outrebounded Doane 43-35 leading to a 17-9 edge in second-chance points
Defender Notes:
- Sievers has scored in double figures in five consecutive and seven of her last eight games
- Beckman recorded her team-leading 21st game in double figures
- Janie Schoonhoven has scored in double figures in 18 games this season
- Sievers moved into a tie for second place (with Linda Mabie - 1981-85) with 378 career assists
- Janie Schoonhoven moved up to 12th place in career rebounding (695)
- Gustafson moved into sixth place in career assists (296)
