No.1 Dordt University used a series of commanding scoring runs in the opening half and never looked back, defeating Mount Marty 91–63 in the GPAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night inside the DeWitt Gymnasium.
With the win, the Defenders push their win streak to 20 and move to 28-1 on the year. The top-seeded Defenders will host #4 seed Concordia (Neb.) in the GPAC semifinals on Saturday, Feb.28 at 3pm.
Mount Marty ends the season with a 15-14 record.
After falling behind 6–3 just two minutes in, the Defenders launched into the first of several major scoring waves in the opening period. Between the 8:26 and 3:46 marks of the first quarter, Dordt went on a 16-2 run, fueled by:
That stretch ballooned Dordt's lead to 19–8 and forced a Mount Marty timeout. The Defenders would push the advantage to 30–17 by the end of the opening period.
Dordt continued to widen its lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Lancers 25-19 with scoring runs of 6-1 and 11-4 in the period. Sievers added two more threes in the period, and Dordt carried a 55–36 halftime lead after a late Schoonhoven fast-break layup followed by a Sievers free throw.
Any hopes of a Mount Marty comeback evaporated in the early stages of the third quarter. Dordt opened the frame on a 16-8 run, keyed by six quick points from Schoonhoven and a triple from Burkhart—her fourth of the night.
By the midway point of the quarter, the lead had grown to 63–40, and it swelled to 74–45 after another Burkhart three at the 1:31 mark. Dordt outscored the Lancers 23–15 in the period.
Dordt reached its largest advantage—30 points—with 1:19 remaining on a pair of free throws by
Ava Lingemann, pushing the score to 91–61 before closing out the 28-point win.
By the Numbers:
- Gracie Schoonhoven poured in a game-high 25 points, making 10-of-14 field goal attempts
- Aubrey Burkhart scored 22 points, going 6-for-7 from beyond the arc
- Macy Sievers ended the night an assist shy of another double-double, scoring 18 points to go with nine assists and six rebounds
- Dordt shot 51% from the field, 43% (12/28) from the arc, and converted 11-of-12 free throw attempts
- both teams totaled 36 rebounds
- Lacey Sprakel led Mount Marty with 15 points and Alexus Motley scored 12
- Mount Marty shot 38% from the field, 36% (8/22) from the 3-point line
Defender Notes:
- Dordt held the Lancers to 10-points below their season scoring average (73.7)
- the Defenders improved to 3-0 against the Lancers this season
- Nov.15 - 82-56, Jan.31 - 92-58
- Schoonhoven scored in double figures in her sixth straight and 28th game overall this season
- this was Schoonhoven's 20th, 20-point game of the season
- tonight's game was the third 20-point game of the season for Burkhart
- Burkhart has made at least one three-pointer in 19 consecutive games
- Sievers scored in double figures for the 24th time this season and for her 10th straight game
- 10 different players scored for the Defenders
- Dordt shot better than its opponent for the 26th time this season
- Schoonhoven passed three players and moved into 10th place all-time in career points (1,304)
- Serena Van Beek (1998-2002) - 1,280pts
- Rachel Evavold (2016-20) - 1,296pts
- Kara Van Dyke (2010-14) - 1,298pts
- Schoonhoven moved up to 28th in career assists (192), passing Janie Van Donge (187), Hayden Heimensen (190) and three players tied with 191 (Flikkema, De Blaey, Kok)
