WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Results

Dordt College Women's Basketball vs. Dakota Wesleyan

January 13, 2010

Game Media

(Mitchell, South Dakota) The Dordt College Defender women's basketball team overcame sizeable deficits in both the first and second halves of Wednesday's game with Dakota Wesleyan at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota to take a 54-51 win and improved to 3-5 in the conference.

Dordt fell behind early 16-5 when Ashley Johnson hit a three-point basket for the Tigers with 10:30 left in the first half. It was the last field goal Dakota Wesleyan would score in the first half with Dordt going on an 11-0 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 16-16. A pair of Ashley Johnson free throws gave the Tigers a two point lead with 3:29 left but Dordt countered with a McKinzie Schmidt basket along with an Amber Soodsma three-pointer followed by a Julia De Koekkoek basket with less than a second left in the half for a 23-18 edge.

Wesleyan seemed to have things righted in the second half when the scored the first seven points of the stanza and ballooned the lead to seven at 36-29 with 10:45 left in the game. Dordt charged back and tied the game less than two minutes later at 38-38 when Soodsma got free in the lane for a basket. The Defenders eventually took the lead for good on a Kate Du Mez three-pointer for a 41-39 advantage and the visitors never relinquished the lead. Wesleyan did tie the game at 45-45 only to have Dordt score four points in a row and sealed the game with free throws.

"Kate Du Mez gets alot of the credit for this win," said Dordt coach Craig Stiemsma. "She wouldn't let us fade away and kept competing even when it wasn't going well. Amber Soodsma was very smart with her shots. Wesleyan came out and played very physically with her and she was smart and still got 15 points on 13 shots."

Dordt limited the Tigers to 17-52 shooting for 32.7 percent and the hosts were 5-20 on three-pointers. In the first meeting of the two teams, a Wesleyan win in November, the Tigers made 10-20 three-point shots. Dordt converted 18-51 shots from the floor and was 4-10 on three-pointers and made 14-23 free throws. Dakota Wesleyan gave up 22 turnovers while Dordt had 18.

Amber Soodsma led Dordt with 15 points on 6-13 shooting and she hauled down seven rebounds. Kate Du Mez had 13 points, eight assists and two steals. Julia De Koekkoek had 11 points with four rebounds and two steals while McKinzie Schmidt had eight points and eight rebounds.

Ashley Mailey and Allison Johnson each had 13 points and Mailey took down a team high 12 rebounds.

Dordt is now 11-9 overall and 3-5 in the league while Dakota Wesleyan is 7-13 and 3-5. Dordt hosts #2 ranked Hastings on Saturday in their next outing. The game is a 2:00 start.

GPAC Scores:
Hastings College 85, Dana College 48
Northwestern College 73, University of Sioux Falls 61
Dordt College 54, Dakota Wesleyan University 51
Concordia University 69, Nebraska Wesleyan University 33
Briar Cliff University 93, Mount Marty College 78
Midland Lutheran College 80, Doane College 70

GPAC Standings
Hastings 8-0/18-2
Northwestern 7-1/16-2
Briar Cliff 5-2/16-3
Mount Marty 5-3/14-4
Morningside 5-3/12-7
Concordia 5-4/12-6
Sioux Falls 5-4/13-8
Dordt 3-5/11-9
Dakota Wesleyan 3-5/7-13
Midland Lutheran 2-5/7-12
Doane 2-6/6-13
Nebraska Wesleyan 1-5/4-9
Dana 0-8/2-15

Dordt's Current Record: 11-9 (3-5)
Opponent's Current Record: 7-12 (3-5)

Team 1st Half 2nd Half Final
Dordt College 23 31 54
Dakota Wesleyan 18 33 51
Dordt Rebounding Leaders Total
McKinzie Schmidt 8
Amber Soodsma 7
Team Total: 36
Opponent Rebounding Leaders Total
Ashley Mailey 12
Maggie Malloy 8
Brittany Hills 6
Team Total: 40
Dordt Scoring Leaders Total
Amber Soodsma 15
Kate Du Mez 13
Julia DeKoekkoek 11
McKinzie Schmidt 8
Team Total: 54
Opponent Scoring Leaders Total
Allison Johnson 13
Ashley Mailey 13
Maggie Malloy 11
Ashley Johnson 8
Team Total: 51
Dordt Team Shooting Pct
Field Goals: 18/51 35%
3-Point Field Goals: 4/10 40%
Free Throws: 14/23 61%
Opponent Team Shooting Pct
Field Goals: 17/52 33%
3-Point Field Goals: 5/20 25%
Free Throws: 12/14 86%

For more information, please contact Mike Byker, Sports Information Director, at mbyker@dordt.edu or (712) 722-6301.