Orange City, Iowa — Alexis Toering and Emilee Danner both scored career highs in leading (RV) Northwestern to a 91-76 win over No.9 Dordt in a conference match-up between the two rivals played tonight at the Bultman Center.
The win snaps the Red Raiders three-game losing skid and improves their record to 8-9 in the GPAC, 13-9 overall. Dordt slips to 12-5 in the conference, 20-5 overall.
Toering led all players with 21 points, two more than her previous career-best (vs Mount Marty), going 7-for-10 from the field, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Danner was one of the key players off the Red Raider bench, contributing a career-high 18 points, including a career-best four three-pointers. Jada Cunningham matched her career-best with 16 points and Sammy Blum was the fourth and final Red Raider to score in double figures with 12.
Tied 4-4, Dordt went on an 11-2 run and controlled play early with a great defensive effort to open up a 23-11 advantage by the quarter break. Northwestern shot just 22% from the field compared to 56% by the Defenders after the first 10 minutes.
Northwestern turned the momentum with an 8-0 run at the start of the second quarter, all scored by Toering, as they cut Dordt’s lead to 23-19. A Bre Schuiteman jumper trimmed the lead all the way down to two (31-29) at the 4:26 mark but Dordt managed to build the lead back up to six by halftime, 42-36.
The Defenders pushed the lead up to eight on a basket by Rachel Evavold, 46-38. Northwestern countered with an 8-1 run and trailed by one, 47-46, after a bucket in the lane by Hannah Nerem. Northwestern then outscored Dordt 11-2 over a two minute stretch to surge ahead for good, 57-53, fueled by the shooting from Danner and Cunningham. Another three-pointer by Danner stretched the Red Raider lead to 62-55 with 1:15 left in the third and the hosts led by five by quarters end.
Dordt made it three-point game twice in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and was down by four (70-66) with 5:45 left. A three-point play by Toering put the Red Raiders up nine and Head Coach Chris Yaw’s squad closed with a 10-1 run to earn the upset.
Northwestern shot 48% for the game, 33% (9/27) from the arc; Dordt shot 40% for the game, 22% (4/18) from the arc. The Red Raiders were outrebounded 41-35 but forced Dordt into 23 turnovers.
Erika Feenstra, Bailey Beckman and Evavold all scored 11 points to lead the Defenders.
