Fremont, Nebraska — The Dordt Defender women’s basketball team was unable to hold off a comeback by Midland in the fourth quarter and lost an 87-81 decision on Saturday afternoon in Fremont, Nebraska.
The Defenders trailed much of the first quarter and were down 24-22 at the end of the first period. A Macey Nielson three-point shot to open the second quarter gave Dordt a brief lead and a pair of Bailey Beckman free throws at the 7:00 mark started a 7-0 run at Janie Schoonhoven capped with one of her eight field goals to give Dordt a 36-30 lead at the time.
The Defenders managed to lead 42-41 at halftime built up as much as a 64-54 lead on a pair of Liv Ritter free throws with 2:47 left in the third and Dordt was still up 66-59 to begin the fourth. The Defenders got stuck at 66 while the hosts scored seven in a row to start the fourth and tied the game at 66-66 with 6:51 left. An Ashtyn Veerbeek basket stopped the run but Midland went on a 7-0 run and Dordt never led again. The Defenders did tie it with 3:57 left in the game on a pair of Ritter free throws but the lead went to 80-75 with 2:47 left in the game and Dordt was never within a single possession the rest of the contest before falling 87-81.
Dordt was 23-56 from the field and 32-40 from the free throw line and the Defenders converted 3-11 three-point shots.
Midland was 27-52 from the field and 12-24 from the arc with 21-32 free throw success.
Dordt had a 38-28 rebounding advantage but committed 19 turnovers while Midland had 23.
Ashtyn Veerbeek scored 30 and had 10 rebounds with five assists and three blocked shots.
Janie Schoonhoven was a perfect 8-8 from the field and had a career high 21 points with nine rebounds and Bailey Beckman added nine points with five assists.
Midland got 26 points from Peyton Wengert and 21 from Sam Shepard. Wengert had 21 in the first half and Shepard had 16 in the second half.
Dordt will look to snap a three game losing streak on Wednesday when it hosts Northwestern, The Defenders are 6-5 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Midland is 5-5 and 2-3.
