SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – The No. 9 Bulldogs drop their first road contest of the season in a top-10 matchup after the No. 1 Defenders used a 13-3 run that finished in the fourth quarter. Dordt took the win in front of the home crowd, 79-57, on Saturday (Dec. 13) inside De Witt Gymnasium. Savannah Butterfield was the bright spot for the visitors mounting a 15-point career high.
Head Coach Drew Olson and company are 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the GPAC going into Christmas break.
“They are a great basketball team,” Coach Olson said. “We played really well early. We needed a couple more things to break our way to get a bigger lead. Dordt just continued to respond. Second half, we just tried to do a little too much. It ended up kind of snowballing a little bit at the end of the third and the start of the fourth. Our effort was great. We just have to keep fine tuning and get a little bit better. Savy was great. She got to the rim early and hit some threes. Defensively, she was really good. That was a great highlight for the day.”
After Butterfield dropped a three to cut the Defender lead to 11 just before the end of the third, Dordt would bottom the knockout blow with eight unanswered to go up 19. The home Gracie Schoonhoven capped off the scoring route with a basket and led all scorers with 26 points.
The Bulldogs were down one at the beginning of the second half, but the Defenders used a 12-3 advantage to jump out to a double-digit lead at the 4:49 mark of the third quarter.
The lone stanza Concordia outscored the defending national champions was the opening with a 20-18 and a 5-point surge of Bree Bunting’s 10 total on the scoreboard.
The Bulldogs shot 31 percent (22-for-70) from the field and 26 percent (7-for-26) from long range, while giving up 44 percent in field goals and 43 percent from three. The staggering stat on the scoresheet had Dordt with 63 rebounds to Concordia’s 23.
The Bulldog defense forced 31 turnovers and 17 steals but were unable to take advantage on the attacking end. Gabrielle Wagner, Sammy Leu and Bunting all swiped three steals apiece.
Butterfield’s 15 came primarily from beyond the arc going 4-for-5 from deep. Kristin Vieselmeyer had a game high four denials and seven points. Freshman Ayla Roth notched seven also.
Dordt’s Schoonhoven also tacked on eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Macy Sievers stuffed the stat sheet with a triple-double that included 16 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks. Olivia Harazin also had 16 points. The Defenders (10-1, 6-1 GPAC) will face MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) next.
Concordia (10-2) will fly to compete in the Hawaii Classic against Campbellsville University (13-0) and the University of Providence (8-2) in the coming days. The Bulldogs will face the Tigers on December 18 and the Argos on December 19. The two games will be in Honolulu, Hawaii.