Dordt dumps dormant MLC

By BENJAMIN TOMCZAK

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Martin Luther ended its regular season on a disappointing note, falling in nonconference play to Dordt 81-62 Saturday.

The Defenders (5-21) shot over 60 percent from the floor in the second half and benefited from a decided rebounding advantage, outrebounding the Knights 53-32 in the contest.

One Defender in particular, Serena VanBeek, did much of the damage. The senior missed all seven of her first half shots, but proceeded to go 9 of 10 from the floor in the second half, scoring 23, and pulled down six second half rebounds. She finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

But it wasn't just VanBeek that did in the Knights. MLC (8-10, 4-4 UMAC) gave up too many second chances, and didn't get enough of its own.

Poor shooting dogged MLC again, as they hit just 3 of its first 13 shots in the first ten minutes and were down by 11, 16-5. All five points came from Becky Pate, who finished the night with 12.

For the last 10 minutes of the half, things were looking up. The Knights shot almost 50 percent from the floor and hit 7 of 10 free throws as they whittled away the 11 point deficit and tied the game at 22 with 1:50 to go, and again at 28 when Bethany Bauer swished home a 3 from 45 feet to beat the buzzer.

That 3 should have given the Knights a lift as they headed into the locker room. But they came out flat in the second half as Dordt went out on a 10-4 run and the Knights' shooting woes continued. They shot 32.4 percent in the second half, and 33 percent overall. MLC hit less than 60 percent of its free throws.

"I'm not sure what's going on," Knights coach Gene Pfeifer said. "I thought when we tied them up at half, that that would give us momentum for the second half."

But the Defenders made sure not to lose momentum. They pounded the ball down low as VanBeek and center Colleen DeGroot traded baskets for the first eight points. DeGroot, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, scored 11 in the half, and finished with 17.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Dordt shot 62.5 percent from the floor. VanBeek scored seven straight, followed by a six point DeGroot run, but still the Defenders only led by six, 51-45 as the Knights clutched and grabbed their way into contention again.

A Bauer steal led to two free throws when she was intentionally fouled by Dordt's Katie Bleeker. A Ruth Servais jumper was followed by a Bauer 3, and then Beth Ebeling had a putback and two free throws of her own before Pate put together back-to-back scores.

After an MLC time out at 10:54 however, Dordt went on 18-7 run that made it 69-52 with 4:24 remaining.

"It's a frustrating combination of events right now," Pfeifer said, regarding the Knights' recent spell of poor shooting and seemingly stagnant offense, as well as Dordt's super-hot second half play. "They just seemed to have an answer for everything we did.

"I think it's focus, intensity, determination -- that's what we have to find. We'll play in spurts, but then we lose our focus. We just have to find a group of girls who are going to keep it up for the duration."

Bauer finished with 16 points for MLC. She also had six assists. Ebeling had a team-high six rebounds.

For two seniors, it was the last regular season home game at MLC. Sarah Scharf finished with eight points and four rebounds and fellow senior Rachel Kramer ended with four rebounds.

MLC will host Crown in UMAC tournament play Tuesday.