Game TIme...10th-ranked Northwestern College closes January's schedule with a tough road test at Dordt Wednesday night, Jan.31, in Sioux Center, Iowa. Tip-off at the DeWitt Gym is scheduled for 6pm. Northwestern is currently in second place in the GPAC with a 12-2 record, 17-5 overall. Dordt is tied with Midland for sixth place in the current GPAC standings with a 6-9 record, 11-13 overall. 

Follow the game live via the Dordt webcast at this link: Watch Now!  Live stats are available here: Stats!

All-Time...Northwestern holds a 67-20 lead in the all-time series, dating back to the 1976-77 season. The Red Raiders are just 2-3 over the last five match-ups against Dordt, however, and has lost two straight on the road against the Defenders. 

Last Time vs Dordt...Kassidy De Jong scored a game-high 20 points in leading the Red Raiders to a 73-68 home win over Dordt earlier this season on Dec. 6. Anna Kiel netted 18 points and both Renee Maneman and Darbi Gustafson scored 11 for NWC. 

The game was tight the entire way, with Dordt holding a slight advantage at the quarter (19-18) and half (36-33). Down by seven after a three-pointer by Defenders guard Sienna Stamness, Northwestern began its comeback with four straight points by Kiel and a three-point play De Jong that tied the score at 47. Knotted again at 49, a Payton Harmsen three-pointer near the end of the third quarter put Dordt up 52-49 at the end of the period. 

Northwestern followed with six straight points to start the fourth, beginning with a basket by Haley Birks and finishing with back-to-back field goals by De Jong, for their first lead since early in the second quarter . Another three-pointer by Harmsen tied the game at 57 but the Red Raiders grabbed the lead for good with a jumper in the lane by Gustafson on their next possession. Still a three-point game (69-66) with one minute left, Renee Maneman knocked down a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to push the lead to six and clinch the come-from-behind win for the Red Raiders.

Overall shooting percentages were relatively similar for the game with Northwestern at 48% compared to 47% by the Defenders. Dordt had the big edge from beyond the arc, making 6-of-13 three-pointers, and the Red Raiders just 2-for-10 (20%). 

Dordt was led by Rachel Evavold with 14 points and eight boards while Siennah Stamness went 3-for-3 from the arc en route to 13 points.

Game Recap | 

Scouting Reports...

    Dordt College: 6-9 (T6th), 11-13     Head Coach: Kyle Lindbergh (1st year)   

The Defenders have won two straight, defeating both Mount Marty and Midland last week, to move into a tie for sixth place with Midland at 6-9. They own an 11-13 overall record, are 3-4 since the new year and 11-13 overall this season. 

Lindbergh takes over as the interim head coach for one season before Bill Harmsen, the current athletic director and head boys coach at Western Christian High School, takes over next season. Lindbergh, a former All-American for the Defenders' men's basketball team, inherits a squad that returns one starter and seven players from a 2016-17 team that finished 10th in the GPAC (5-15), 13-17 overall 

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 68.8ppg (7th)
    Scoring Defense: 74.6ppg (9th)
    Field Goal Percentage: 40% (9th)
    3pt Percentage: 30% (8th), 158 3pters (7th) 
    Free Throw Percentage: 77% (2nd / 8th)
    Rebound Margin: +3 (5th)

Top Players:  (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Rachel Evavold-14.1ppg (9th), 7.3rpg (6th), 24 blocks (5th)
    Annie Rhinesmith-11.9ppg, 3.8rpg, 34 3pters (9th), 66 assists (3rd)
    Erika Feenstra-10.6ppg, 4.8rpg, 21 3pters
    Ebby Prewitt-7.1ppg, 3.0rpg, 39 assists
    Payton Harmsen-7ppg, 44 3pters, 45 assists

No.10 Northwestern College: 12-2 (2nd), 17-5 (9 straight)    Head Coach: Chris Yaw (7th year)

Northwestern has won nine straight games, its longest win streak since opening the 2013-14 season with 18 consecutive wins. They are in sole possession of second place in the current GPAC standings with a 12-2 record, 17-5 overall, with all five losses to ranked teams. The Red Raiders have climbed into the NAIA D-II top 10 for the first time since the final coaches' poll in 2013-14 when they finished third. 

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 78ppg (4th)
    Scoring Defense: 63.8ppg (3rd)
    Field Goal Percentage: 49% (2nd /3rd)
    3pt Percentage: 34% (7th)
    Free Throw Percentage: 74% (5th)
    Rebound Margin: +8 (2nd)

Top Players: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10) *returning starter
    *Kassidy De Jong (All-American) 18ppg (2nd), 7.6rpg (3rd), 36 assists
     *Darbi Gustafson (All-Conference)  14.8ppg (T5th), 7.9rpg (2nd), 59% (2nd)
     Anna Kiel (All-Conference)  14.8ppg (T5th), 67% FG, 5.5rpg
    *Renee Maneman  (All-Conference) 8.9ppg, 4rpg, 192 assists (1st /1st)
     *Haley Birks (All-Conference) 8.2ppg, 4.3rpg, 27 blocks (4th)    
     *Paige Danner  7.3ppg, 33 3pters, 36% 3pt FG 

Northwestern has held opponents to under 70 points in eight straight games; limited opponents to below 40% FG in five of the last games

Red Raiders have outrebounded opponents in 11 straight games and have been outrebounded just four times this season

Gustafson is tied for first in the GPAC with seven double-doubles this season; Maneman and De Jong are tied for fourth with five

De Jong has scored in double figures in 20 games, nine with 20+ points

Gustafson has scored in double figures in 19 games; Kiel has 11 games with 10+ points

De Jong ranks 13th all-time in scoring (1,445pts); Gustafson 37th (877pts)

Maneman is the all-time assists leader (700) and ranks 12th all-time in steals (193)