Bruins fall to #15 Dordt

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- A tough shooting night saw the Bellevue University women's basketball team fall to No. 15 Dordt University 77-53 on Tuesday evening in non-conference action at Dordt's De Witt Gymnasium.

Bellevue slips to 1-4 with the loss while the Defenders remain unbeaten, improving to 4-0.

Dordt started strong, hitting 10-of-12 field goal attempts in the first quarter as the Defenders built a 24-13 lead after one. Bailey Beckman scored the first seven points for Dordt who led 13-9 before an 8-0 run stretched the lead to 21-9.

The Defenders began the second quarter in similar fashion, scoring the first seven points of the period before Asha Scott recorded the first Bruin points of the quarter with a 10-foot jumper at the 5:10 mark. Dordt led by as many as 25 before Miranda Hennings canned a trey ahead of the halftime buzzer to cut the lead to 44-22 at the intermission.

The Bruins hit their first and final three-pointers of the half but in-between missed 14-straight attempts from deep while Dordt shot 62% from the floor in the first, including going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Following a familiar script, Dordt rattled off the first 12 points of the third quarter en route to growing their lead to 68-31 headed into the fourth quarter.

Bellevue showed some life in the fourth quarter, out-scoring Dordt 22-9 in the period including a feisty 16-3 run to close out the game.

Dordt finished the game shooting 49% from the floor while Bellevue struggled to connect on just 36% of their field goal attempts.

Scott finished with a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds for Bellevue. Faith Ross joined her in double figures with 10 points while Delaney VanBlaricon and Ashtyn Arnold added eight apiece.

Beckman (21) and Karly Gustafson (19) combined for 40 points for the Defender while Janie Schoonhoven added 10 points and seven boards.

Bellevue is back on the road this weekend for a pair of games at the Tabor Classic. Play begins Friday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. against Central Christian College.