Mitchell, South Dakota — Dordt used a strong fourth quarter to take sole possession of fifth place in the GPAC standings, defeating Dakota Wesleyan 60-44 on the road.
Both teams had low scoring outputs throughout the first half, as the Defenders took an early 10-4 lead after Mya Chmielewski’s three point basket, and were held to one more point in the next five minutes. Dakota Wesleyan worked their way into the lead late in the quarter as Rynn Osthus made a three to make the score 13-11 at the end of the first.
The Tigers held the lead for the rest of the half while trading scores with the Defenders. With 6:32 left in the quarter, Karly Gustafson converted the and-one to bring Dordt within a point. Dakota Wesleyan held a 23-18 lead late in the half before Baylee Tetzlaff secured the offensive rebound and scored to make the halftime score 23-20.
Dordt took back the lead seven minutes into the third with a made jumpshot from Ashtyn Veerbeek to give the Defenders a 36-35 advantage. Neither team could gain momentum for the remainder of the quarter, as Erika Feenstra’s free throw before in the final seconds tied the game at 40 going into the final 10 minutes.
The Defenders outscored the Tigers 20-4 in the final quarter of play, opening the quarter with 15 unanswered points, including 12 from Ashtyn Veerbeek in five minutes of play. Dakota Wesleyan ended their seven-minute scoring drought at the 4:32 mark, but the Defenders maintained momentum through the final buzzer, continuing to add to their lead for a 60-44 win in conference play.
Ashtyn Veerbeek scored 28 points and had 23 rebounds and Karly Gustafson scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds.
Dordt is now 14-10 and Dakota Wesleyan is 13-9
Dordt will play at Briar Cliff in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, February 20 at 2:00 pm.
