If it wouldn't have been for dry spells to start the first half and end the second, Wednesday night's game would have been completely different for the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team.
The Tigers were held scoreless for the first seven-plus minutes of the first half and got outscored 10-4 in the last five minutes of their 66-55 loss to Dordt College at the Corn Palace.
"We've had too many stretches like that this year," DWU head coach Aaron Kahl said of the first eight minutes of play. "It was a very disappointing way for us to start."
Dakota Wesleyan was within five points of the Defenders, 48-43, with 9:01 left to play, but Kate Du Mez hit a jumper and Julia DeKoekkoek converted a three-point play to extend Dordt's lead to 53-43.
DeKoekkoek's jumper with 7:23 remaining was the last field goal the Defenders would hit, but from that point on they went 14-for-23 from the line. During that same time, DWU was 4-for-9 from the line and made four field goals.
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The Tigers finished the night 15-for-29 (51.7 percent) from the line while Dordt finished 21-for-32 (65.6 percent).
"That's been how it goes," Kahl said. "When (free throws) go in, they all seem to go in and when they don't, they just don't. We just couldn't seem to get anything to go in."
The Tigers struggled offensively from the start. Dordt, which improved to .500 on the season at 9-9 overall and 4-4 in the GPAC, went on a 16-0 run in the first 12:42 until Maggie Malloy drained two free throws. Jessica Deinert hit a three-pointer to help chip into Dordt's lead.
Ashley Johnson hit two threes and Malloy drained one more to highlight a 12-4 run by Dakota Wesleyan to end the half down just 33-25, despite shooting just 24 percent from the field.
"We made some shots," Kahl said. "But we were not able to execute things we needed to get good shots."
Dordt hit two layups to start the second half and extend its lead back out to 12 points before Allison Johnson hit the first of her two three-pointers of the half to cut the lead back down to nine, 37-28.
After Johnson hit her second three, the Tigers went on a 7-2 run to cut the Defender lead to 48-43, but that's as close as they would get.
Dakota Wesleyan finished the night shooting just under 28 percent from the field. Johnson led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points. Malloy had a double-double for the Tigers with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She also had five steals.
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Du Mez led four Dordt players in double digits with 18 points. Kelsie DeNooy added 16 points and Amber Soodsma and DeKoekkoek each finished with 12. McKinzie Schmidt had 10 rebounds and Du Mez finished with six assists and four steals.
Dakota Wesleyan fell to 9-11 overall and 2-6 in the conference with the loss. It returns home for the second game in a four-game home stand Wednesday when it hosts Nebraska Wesleyan.
"We're going to have to play better," Kahl said. "We have a few more home games left and we need to try to win some of those games and try to play more consistently."
DORDT COLLEGE 66
DAKOTA WESLEYAN 55
Dordt (9-9, 4-4)
Kelsie DeNooy 3-6 10-14 16; McKinzie Schmidt 2-4 3-6 7; Bre Schneidermann 0-4 1-2 1; Kate Du Mez 6-8 4-5 18; Amber Soodsma 4-12 2-4 12; Noelle Kreykes 0-4 0-0 0; Julia DeKoekkoek 5-9 1-1 12; Bailey Spencer 0-0 0-0 0; Sarah Seymour 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 21-32 66.
Dakota Wesleyan (9-11, 2-6)
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Angela Noteboom 0-3 4-9 4; Ashley Mailey 2-8 2-2 6; Allison Johnson 6-14 0-0 15; Ashley Johnson 3-12 1-1 8; Sarah Mortenson 1-6 1-4 3; Heidi Lusk 0-2 0-0 0; Jessica Deinert 2-4 0-0 5; Maggie Malloy 2-10 6-10 11; Marie Olson 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 17-61 15-29 55.
Halftime score: DC 33, DWU 25. Three-point goals: DC 5-7 (Du Mez 2-2, Soodsma 2-4); DWU 6-22 (Al. Johnson 3-8). Rebounds: DC 43 (Schmidt 10); DWU 42 (Malloy 10). Turnovers: DC 20, DWU 18. Assists: DC 11 (Du Mez 6); DWU 18 (Al. Johnson 5). Steals: DC 8 (Du Mez 4); DWU 14 (Malloy 5). Blocks: DC 3; DWU 0. Fouled out: Schneiderman, Al. Johnson, Mortenson.
