Sioux Center, Iowa — The Northwestern College women’s basketball team pushed its win streak to five as they defeated GPAC preseason favorite Dordt 76-69 in a gritty performance on the Defenders home floor. The Raiders are now 5-3 in the GPAC, 5-6 overall; Dordt falls to 4-4 in the conference, 5-6 overall.
Sammy Blum led Northwestern with 18 points, making four three-pointers, and Maddie Jones netted a career-high 13 points and dished out four assists. The Raiders converted all 10 of its free throw attempts during the final four-plus minutes, led by Jones who went 6-for-6.
Down three (61-58) with just over four minutes left to play, Northwestern scored the next seven points en route to a decisive 14-4 run that put the Raiders up for good. Alexis Toering began the run with two free throws and a Blum three-pointer put Northwestern in front 63-61 with 2:51 left to go. A pair of free throws from Jones pushed the Raider lead to four (65-61), also where the lead stood one minute later at 69-65 with 51 seconds left.
Following a Northwestern timeout, Blum knocked down her fourth and final three-pointer for the knockout blow, putting her team in front by seven, 72-65. Jones took care of the rest, draining four consecutive free throws over the final 30 seconds to seal it. Northwestern held Dordt to just three field goals over the final four-plus minutes and forced three turnovers.
Northwestern shot 42% for the game, 46% (10/22) from beyond the arc. They held the Defenders in check offensively, limiting the hosts to 38% overall and 22% (6/27) from the three-point line.
The Raiders continued their trend of incredible balance at the offensive end with all 10 players scoring at least three points and seven with six or more points. Molly Schany contributed 9 points, 11 boards, both Emilee Danner and Devyn Kemble netted seven points each.
Dordt’s Ashtyn Verbeek poured in game-high 33 points and added nine rebounds but was held to nine in the second half. Karly Gustafson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Bailey Beckman added 11 points. Dordt had a slight edge on the boards, 44-39; both teams committed 15 turnovers.
The game was close throughout with Northwestern holding a four-point edge (21-17) after the first quarter while the host Defenders claimed two-point lead, 38-36, at by halftime. Both teams largest lead throughout was eight.
