BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Despite hitting three more field goals and five more 3-pointers, the Bellevue University women's basketball team suffered a 71-62 loss at the hands of Dordt University Tuesday night in a non-conference battle between two teams who are both receiving votes in the latest NAIA National Top 25 Poll.
With the loss, the Bruins fell to 2-3 on the season. Dordt improved to 2-2 overall.
Dordt sank 32-of-36 free throws and recorded 10 blocked shots in the victory. The Defenders also took advantage of 21 BU turnovers, scoring 18 points from Bruin miscues.
Faith Ross led the Bruins with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals. She was 3-of-6 in 3-point attempts in the loss.
Elexis Martinez recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bruins held DU's leading scorer Ashtyn Veerbeek 14 points below her season scoring average as Verbeek finished with seven points, all on free throws. She did add a game-high eight blocked shots.
Dordt was led by Hayden Heimensen, who finished with 20 points, including a 9-for-10 performance at the charity stripe.
Bailey Beckman went 6-for-6 from the line and finished with 14 points. Mya Chmielewski was the third Defender in double figures, finishing with 11 points, along with eight rebounds and three assists.
After Dordt raced out to an early 9-2 lead highlighted by five-straight points from Heimensen, the Bruins battled back closing the first quarter on an 8-2 run to narrow the gap to one point at 11-10 after the opening 10 minutes of play.
Lexi Allen opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and after a couple of ties and three lead changes, BU scored eight-straight points to grab a 24-19 advantage with 5:26 left before halftime. The Defenders responded with nine consecutive points before BU closed the half on a 6-2 run capped by a free throw from Ross to knot the contest at 30 apiece at the intermission.
Ross led BU in the opening half with nine points including a 2-for-2 performance from behind the arc. Asha Scott added six points and five boards.
Heimensen paced Dordt in the first half with 11 points, going 4-for-6 from the field.
The Defenders scored the first 10 points of the second half, holding the Bruins scoreless for nearly four minutes as DU surged ahead 40-30. The Bruins countered with four straight from Martinez in a 7-2 BU run, drawing Bellevue to within five points at 42-37.
Five-straight free throws in a 7-0 Dordt run pushed the DU cushion to 12 points at 49-37 with two minutes left in the third frame.
A 3-pointer by Ross at the buzzer capped an 8-2 BU run to close the quarter as the Bruins ended the third stanza on an 8-2 spurt to close the gap to five at 52-47 heading into the final quarter.
Bellevue went scoreless for the first three minutes of the final quarter before a triple by Allen pulled the Bruins to within six points at 56-50 at the seven-minute mark. That was as close as BU would get as the Defenders secured the 71-62 victory, going 10-for-10 from the line in the final frame.
The Bruins will travel to Hillsboro, Kan. this Friday-Saturday, Nov. 12-13 to compete in the Tabor College Classic. BU will take on Bethany (Kan.) at 2 p.m. on Friday and Tabor on Saturday at 3 p.m.
