Hatcliff, Rice Roll as Women's Basketball Goes 2-0 in Florida

Women's Basketball had a short turnaround on Monday morning, starting Day 2 of the West Palm Beach Classic about 17 hours after they concluded action on Sunday. The Tiger offense stayed hot as they reached the 90-point mark for the second straight game as they defeated their host, Keiser University, 99-82.

Hot shooting from behind the arc keyed the Doane offensive attack early on. There were four ties and four lead changes in the first 10 minutes. With 3:50 to play in the first quarter, Keiser led 14-11. The Tigers tied the game on a Mak Hatcliff 3-point basket and went in front on a Rylie Rice 3-point basket. Keiser tied the game at 17-all with a 3-point shot only to see Maddie Portwine put Doane back in front with a 3-point basket and Libby Trausch extend the lead with a 3-point basket. Keiser hit a 3-point basket to close the quarter with Doane in front, 23-20. The Tigers hit 5-of-7 3-point attempts in the quarter.

The second quarter belonged to Hatcliff and Rice as the Tigers extended their lead. Hatcliff posted 12 points while Rice added 10 points to combine for 22 of the team's 30 points in the quarter. Doane's largest lead of the quarter was 12 points, 51-39, and they led 53-43 at the break.

The Tigers pushed their lead to 16 points, 66-50, following a Rice 3-point basket and a Kaylee Klover layup. However, Doane would have a short cold spell spanning four minutes in which Keiser went on a 13-2 to pull within five points, 68-63. Macy Holtz scored twice in the final 64 seconds to push the lead to nine points at the quarter break.

Hatcliff dominated the fourth quarter for the Tigers. After one basket in the previous quarter, she went on to score 18 points in the final 10 minutes of play to hold off any Seahawk hopes of a rally. Rice added a pair of 3-point baskets in the quarter, finishing with seven in the game which is tied for 7th-most in program history.

As a team, the Tigers shot 54.9-percent (39-of-71) from the floor and 54.2-percent (13-of-24) from behind the arc. At the free throw line, they shot 72.7-percent (8-of-11). Keiser finished 47.1-percent (32-of-68) from the field, 37.5-percent (9-of-24) from behind the arc, and 90-percent (9-of-10) at the charity stripe.

Hatcliff led all scorers with 40 points (20 in each half), shooting 15-of-27 from the floor including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Rice scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, going 7-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Klover led the team with nine rebounds as the Tigers held a 39-30 team edge in rebounds. Megan Chambers added eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Macy Holtz dished out six assists, tying her career-high, and picked up four steals. Doane had eight steals on the Seahawks' 10 turnovers.

The Tigers will take a short break before returning to action on Saturday, December 30, as they play host to York at 2:00 PM in Crete. Doane defeated the Panthers in a meeting in November at York.