Women's Basketball Hands No. 3 Dordt Their First Loss

Doane Women's Basketball hosted No. 3 Dordt (Iowa) on Wednesday evening in Crete as both teams hit the midway mark of the conference slate. The game featured 19 lead changes as the Tigers pulled off the upset of the Defenders, 71-66. Doane snapped a 10-game skid to the Defenders while also playing spoiler on Dordt's undefeated season.

There were seven lead changes in the opening quarter as both teams shot over 50-percent from the floor. Doane led 21-18 after 10 minutes of play as Macy Holtz posted eight points in the quarter. 

Dordt out-scored the Tigers, 16-11, in the 2nd quarter as Karly Gustafson led the Defenders with six points in the quarter. The halftime score was 34-32 in favor of the visitors.

The 3rd quarter was a back-and-forth affair as both teams scored 20 points. Mak Hatcliff led the Tigers with eight points in the quarter as Dordt led 54-52 heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

The Defenders began to pull away from the Tigers by scoring eight straight points to start the 4th quarter. Doane snapped the Dordt run at the six-minute mark and went on a run of their own, 11-0 over two minutes of play, to regain the lead 63-62 following a Rylie Rice 3-point basket.

Dordt would regain the lead only to see Maddie Portwine give Doane the lead back as she hit a running jumper to beat the shot clock with 2:51 to play. Janie Schoonhoven put the Defenders back in front by a point twenty seconds later. It would mark the last points for Dordt as the Tigers' defense was able to lock down their opponent.

Doane took the lead for the final time as Rice converted a three-point play. The defensive play of the game came with 24 seconds to play as Holtz stood her ground near the Dordt basket and took a charge. The Tigers added three free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.

Hatcliff led all scorers with 21 points as she added six rebounds and six steals. Holtz finished with 16 points with Rice adding 16 points off the bench. Megan Chambers led the team with three assists and two blocked shots.

For the game, the Tigers shot 44.6-percent (25-of-56) from the floor, 36.8-percent (7-of-19) from behind the arc, and 66.7-percent (14-of-21) at the free throw line. Dordt shot 42.4-percent (25-of-59) from the field, 34.8-percent (8-of-23) from 3-point range, and 61.5-percent (8-of-13) at the free throw line.

The Defenders were led by Gustafson with 20 points and nine rebounds. Schoonhoven added 13 points and seven rebounds. Macy Sievers posted six assists off the bench.

Doane travels to Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday, January 14, to take on Morningside for their next contest.