a { text-decoration: none; color: #464feb; } tr th, tr td { border: 1px solid #e6e6e6; } tr th { background-color: #f5f5f5; } No.1 Dordt University women's basketball team extended its unbeaten start to 8-0 (4-0 GPAC) with a 77-65 road victory over No. 8 Briar Cliff on Wednesday night at the Newman Flanagan Center.
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Briar Cliff opened strong, hitting three early triples to take a 9-4 lead at the 8:28 mark of the first quarter. Dordt responded with an 11-2 surge fueled by Desta Hoogendoorn and Gracie Schoonhoven, flipping the score to 15-11. The Defenders closed the first period ahead 20-17.
The second quarter featured back-and-forth action, with Briar Cliff briefly reclaiming the lead at 26-23 after consecutive threes from Brooklyn Heineman and Abby Lee. Dordt answered with a 13-5 run over the final five minutes, capped by a Macy Sievers three-pointer in the closing seconds, to take a 39-33 advantage into halftime.
Dordt's decisive push came in the third quarter. Leading 41-37 early, the Defenders rattled off a 15-2 run highlighted by Hoogendoorn's inside presence and Sievers in transition, building their largest lead of the night at 56-39 with 3:33 left in the period.
Dordt maintained control from there, never allowing the Chargers closer than four points in the final frame. Leading by four (69-65), the Defenders scored the final eight points, initiated by a three-point play from Schoonhoven and finished off with free throws by Sievers.
By the Numbers:
- Macy Sievers and Gracie Schoonhoven shared game-high honors with 25 points
- Desta Hoogendoorn netted 16 points, going 8-for-10 from the field
- Taylor Drent added eight points and nine rebounds
- Sievers recorded another double-double with 12 rebounds to go with four assists
- Hoogendoorn and Schoonhoven both grabbed eight boards
- Dordt shot 44% for the game, 19% (3/16) from the 3pt line
- Dordt controlled the glass, outrebounding the Chargers 49-27
- Briar Cliff shot 34% from the field, 47% (7/15) from the arc
- Brooklyn Heineman led Briar Cliff with 15 points, making all three of her 3-point attempts
- Mallie McNair netted 13 points and was the only other BCU player to score in double figures
Defender Notes:
- this was the sixth consecutive double-double for Sievers
- Sievers has scored 20-plus points in four games this season
- Schoonhoven has scored in double figures in every game this season
- Hoogendoorn's 16 points is a career-high
- Drent matched her career-high (vs CSM in 2023-24)
- Dordt has shot better than its opponent, from the field, in all but one game
- this was the second consecutive game the Defenders held a 20-plus rebound advantage
