Sioux Center, Iowa — The Dordt Defenders advanced to the GPAC semifinals with a hard-fought home win on Wednesday, defeating Jamestown 71-60.
The first quarter began with both teams trading baskets until Jamestown’s Madelyn Schmidt hit a three-pointer, giving the Jimmies the lead and kicking off an 11-2 run. Down 28-10, the Defenders began to rally when Ashtyn Veerbeek made two free throws, Hayden Heimensen made a shot from beyond the arc, and Mya Chmielewski added five points in a row. Dordt closed the quarter on a 10-0 run and held a 20-18 lead.
The Defenders went up by as much as five points in the second quarter when Karly Gustafson scored to make the score 30-25. Jamestown battled back in with a Macy Savela three, but Janie Schoonhoven scored twice to give Dordt a 36-34 lead with 3:09 left in the half, a score that would hold until halftime.
Out of the half, Dordt took control of the third quarter. With the score at 40-37 in favor of the Defenders, Dordt scored eight unanswered points to build up a lead as large as 14.
Jamestown increased their full-court pressure throughout the fourth quarter, slightly outscoring the Defenders in the final 10 minutes. Dordt, however, responded early, increasing their lead to 60-45 with 8:33 remaining. Hannah DeMars made a three to make the score 65-54 late in the contest, but Dordt only allowed one made field goal defensively to close out the game, helping the Defenders earn a spot in the conference semifinals.
Dordt shot 52% from the field and limited Jamestown to a 30.9% shooting mark
Bailey Beckman was 6-10 from the field for 19 points, along with three steals
Karly Gustafson scored 15 points and added nine rebounds and three blocks
Mya Chmielewski had 11 points
Dordt will host Dakota Wesleyan on Saturday, February 26 in the semifinal round of the GPAC Tournament. Tipoff will be at 3:00 PM in De Witt Gymnasium.
