SCORE
Dordt def. Oakland City 81-71
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Dordt Defender women's basketball team battled to an 81-71 NAIA National Championship 1
st Round win over Oakland City (Indiana) on Friday night in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Playing in front of a nearly full De Witt Gym crowd, the Defenders took a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter as part of a 13-0 run. The visitors from the River States Conference responded by getting the lead down to 20-17 with a three-point play late in the quarter.
Dordt maintained a lead through out the second quarter but couldn't push the lead past eight, taking that margin several times, the last time at 31-23 on a
Karly Gustafson basket with 6:13 left in the half. The Mighty Oaks narrowed the difference to 37-36 but Dordt closed the half with a pair of free throws and a
Janie Schoonhoven basket with :06 left in the half for a 41-36 advantage.
A
Faith Van Holland three-point basket started the second half to expand the lead to eight again but Oakland City fought back to take a brief one point lead and eventually went up 63-61 on a banked in three-point shot by Ellen Meeringa with 1:34 left in the period.
A pair of Van Holland free throws, a
Macy Sievers steal and basket and a
Karly Gustafson buzzer beater closed the period for the Defenders and a 6-0 run. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes in the fourth period with Oakland City cutting the lead to 67-65 but Dordt had an answer with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes capped by an
Eliana Kuperus basket. Oakland City got to within 74-70 but no closer as Dordt pushed the final difference to 81-71.
THE NUMBERS
- Dordt was 26-59 from the field and made 27-35 free throws.
- Oakland City converted 27-62 field goals and made 8-22 three-point shots. Â
- Dordt had a 38-37 rebounding edge and had 12 offensive rebounds to 11 for the Mighty Oaks.
- Dordt forced 25 turnovers.
- Dordt Leaders
- Oakland City Leaders
- Gabrielle Joyner: 13 pts
- Tabatha Klem: 10 pts
NEXT
Dordt will host Spring Arbor on Saturday night, March 16 in the NAIA National Championship 2
nd Round with tipoff set for 6pm.
Â