Explosive Fourth Quarter Lifts Tigers
The women's basketball team out-scored Dordt by 17 points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 51-38 win in Sioux Center, Iowa. The win was the Tigers' second straight at the Defenders home court after losing their previous five trips to DeWitt Gymnasium. Doane is now 12-10 overall and 5-9 in the GPAC while Dordt fell to 6-15 and 3-12 in the GPAC.
Doane opened the game by scoring the first 12 points of the quarter. Both teams had a tough start, combining for five turnovers on the opening six possessions. Hanah Barnard (JR/Beatrice, Neb.) ended the drought by knocking down a 3-point basket. The Tigers' 12-0 lead was aided by the Defenders' struggles as they committed seven turnovers in the opening four minutes of play. Dordt's first basket came with four minutes left in the quarter and they finished with a 10-6 advantage to cut the Tiger lead to 16-10 at the quarter break.
Both teams struggled to find any scoring in the 2nd quarter as they each posted six points and the Tigers led 22-16 at halftime. Doane shot 26.5-percent in the first half while Dordt was held to 18.5-percent. The Tigers were 2-of-10 from 3-point range and the Defenders were 0-of-11.
Doane used a 7-2 run to open a double-digit lead, 29-18, only to have Dordt catch fire and closed the 3rd quarter with a 16-1 run to take a 34-30 lead. The Tigers were held without a field goal for the final 6:41 of the quarter. Heather Broman (SR/Geneva, Neb.) scored five the team's eight points.
Neither team scored on their opening three possessions of the 4th quarter. Shelbi Bittinger (SR/Milford, Neb.) put an end to the offensive struggles for Doane as she knocked down a 3-point basket to pull the Tigers within a point, 34-33. She went on to score nine points in the final quarter as Doane out-scored Dordt, 21-4, in the final 10 minutes. The first 14 points of the quarter belong to the Tigers before the Defenders were able to get on the board with 3:12 left to play in the game.
Broman finished with 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the Tigers. Barnard added 12 points as she knocked down three 3-point baskets. Bittinger finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to record her second straight double-double. Morgan Hill (JR/Crete, Neb.) had a team-high three steals.
Dordt received seven points and 22 rebounds from Mycah Hulst. Jamie Gisink also scored seven points for Dordt. The 38 points for the Defenders matched a season-low offensively while it was the fewest points allowed by the Tigers since holding Nebraska Wesleyan to 30 points in January 2014.