Women's Basketball Rallies at Bellevue; Hatcliff Hits Milestone Scoring Mark

Doane Women's Basketball returned from the holiday break to partake in the Bellevue Classic and had to mount a comeback to knock off Bellevue on Thursday evening, 81-77. Doane trailed by as many as 14 points in the 2nd quarter before taking their first lead of the game in the final 30 seconds of the 3rd quarter.

Bellevue jumped out early with a 6-0 lead after 76 seconds of play. Megan Chambers put the Tigers on the board for their first points of the game. The Bruins led by seven points, 17-10, with 5:39 to play in the opening quarter. Doane went on a 6-0 run behind four points from Mak Hatcliff. The Bruins stopped the run with a free throw followed by back-to-back steals into layups in a 15 second span to extend the lead back to six, 22-16. Bellevue hit a 3-point basket to end the quarter as they led 34-23.

The largest Bellevue lead was 41-27 with 7:35 to go in the 2nd quarter. Doane responded with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to cut into the deficit. Kali Staples scored on a fastbreak, followed by two free throws from Chambers. Mid-year transfer Maddie Portwine scored her first Tiger basket on a fastbreak and Macy Holtz hit two free throws to cap the run. Doane trailed 51-44 at the break as Libby Trausch hit a jumper to close the half.

Doane's defense came up big in the second half, limiting the Bruins to 26 points. Bellevue scored the first basket of the third quarter only to have Doane go on a 7-0 run to pull within two points. Holtz had a layup and a 3-point basket with Hatcliff capping the run with a fastbreak layup.

The basket for Hatcliff was a record-breaking bucket. She became the quickest Tiger basketball player, men's or women's, to reach the 1,000-point club. Hatcliff accomplished the feat in 43 games, breaking the previous mark of 48 games set by Don "Goose" Vyhnalek in 1957.

Bellevue maintained their lead, holding a 62-57 advantage with 1:55 to play. Doane closed the final two minutes with a 9-0 run to take a 66-62 lead. Chambers had back-to-back layups and Rylie Rice hit a 3-point basket to give the Tigers the lead. Hatcliff hit two free throws with 0.1 left on the clock.

Doane maintained the lead for most of the 4th quarter although the Bruins tied the game on three occasions. With 2:00 to play, Bellevue hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 75-all. Following a defensive stop, the Bruins regained the lead with a layup from Asha Scott at the 1:19 mark.

The Tigers pulled within a point with 1:09 to play on a Holtz free throw and took the lead back with 34 seconds remaining as Rice hit two free throws. Holtz added a free throw with 12 seconds left to give Doane a 79-77 lead. The Bruins had one last chance, finding an open 3-point shot but coming up short. Rice picked up the rebound and was fouled. She made both free throws to secure the win.

Hatcliff recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers. Chambers added 20 points and seven rebounds. Holtz posted 16 points and Rice finished with 11 points.

Olivia Nall led the Tigers with four assists with Trausch and Rice adding three apiece. Kali Staples picked up four of the team's 10 steals in the game.

Doane shot 47.4-percent for the game (27-of-57) but was limited to 25-percent behind the arc (3-of-12). Doane had a healthy advantage at the free throw line, shooting 70.6-percent (24-of-34).

Bellevue shot 45.7-percent for the game (32-of-70), hitting 26.1-percent behind the arc (6-of-23). They shot 58.3-percent at the free throw line (7-of-12). In the second half, the Bruins shot 32-percent from the floor and 1-of-9 behind the arc.

Taylor Dement led Bellevue with 16 points and Laura Jurek finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Doane will have a quick turnaround as they take on Mayville State at 12:00 PM on Friday at Bellevue.