Women's Basketball Edged in Tightly Contested Road Game

Women's Basketball closed out the final game of the conference slate before the end of the calendar year on Saturday with a road game in Orange City, Iowa, against (RV) Northwestern. The two teams entered the day tied for second in the GPAC and when the final horn blew, the Red Raiders were able to walk away with a 71-65 win.

Northwestern took a 7-2 lead through three minutes of play after Megan Chambers scored the first basket of the game for the Tigers. Maddie Portwine stopped the seven-point run with a 3-point basket. Doane would take two more leads in the opening quarter but trailed after 10 minutes of action, 18-16.

The Red Raiders began the second quarter with a 12-4 run to push their lead to 10 points, 30-20. The two teams would exchange baskets over the final five minutes as Northwestern led 36-28 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Tigers were called for six fouls in the first five minutes before Northwestern was credited with one. Despite the disadvantage, Doane hung tough and scored seven of the final 11 points of the quarter to trail by 11, 52-41, going into the final 10 minutes.

The Tigers began the fourth quarter with a 6-1 run to pull within six points, 53-47, with 7:53 to play. However, a Doane foul led to free throws that would start a 6-2 run to push the lead back to 10 points for the Red Raiders. Northwestern would eventually push the lead to 12 points before Doane cut the deficit to six at the end of the game.

Chambers led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Kaylee Klover posted 13 points and 12 rebounds with Portwine adding 12 points. Macy Holtz led the team with five assists and Ella Johnson had a team-high two steals.

Doane shot 40-percent from the floor (23-of-57), while going 3-of-13 from behind the arc and 16-of-22 at the free throw line. Northwestern shot 39-percent from the floor (24-of-61), making 4-of-21 from behind the arc and 19-of-33 at the free throw line.

Molly Schany led Northwestern with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Ashtyn Wobig posted 13 points and Hali Anderson had 10 points and 11 assists.

Doane goes from north to the southwest as they head to Arizona for their next two games. On Tuesday, December 17, the Tigers will take on Ottawa (AZ) at 5:30 PM local time (6:30 PM in Crete).