The Doane women's basketball team knocked off rival Concordia University on Wednesday evening, 79-76. The win was the first for the Tigers over the Bulldogs in their last six tries. Concordia was knocking on the door of the NAIA national poll, sitting three spots outside the Top 25 entering the contest.
Doane controlled nearly ever second of the contest, trailing on one occasion in the second half but the deficit last a mere 20 seconds.
The Tigers got the scoring going as Cheryl Braithwait opened the game with three baskets from behind the arc to give Doane a 9-2 early lead. Concordia started to chip away, led by Angela Kuca as she hit a pair of three-pointers. With Doane leading 16-15, Vanessa Munter gave the Tigers five straight points to extend their lead back to six.
The two teams went back and forth as Doane built a lead of 10 points on four occasions in the first half and took a 39-30 lead into halftime.
Concordia switched primarily to a zone defense in the second half but it did not slow the Tigers down enough as they shot 50-percent in the 20 minutes. Doane did cool off from behind the arc but was able to penetrate the zone defense and pick up key baskets to continue to answer Bulldog made shots.
With Doane leading by eight points and 7:26 remaining in the game, Concordia went on a 13-4 run to take their first lead of the game, 71-70. Kourtney Rahder and Treva Nutter sparked the Bulldogs with five points apiece during the run. Doane came right back as Vanessa Munter hit a baseline jumper to put the Tigers ahead for good with 3:23 remaining.
Vanessa Munter and Kristine Ortmeier combined to score 12 of the final 13 points for Doane as they combined to go 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final five minutes. Brittany Lurz added a free throw with four seconds remaining to give the Tigers their final three point advantage.
Both teams finished the game with four players in double figures. Doane shot 52.9-percent from the floor while Concordia hit 42.3-percent of their shot attempts. The Bulldogs held the advantage at the free throw line, hitting 24-of-38 attempts while Doane converted on 20-of-27 attempts. Concordia held a slight edge on the boards, 34-30, and 15-8 in offensive rebounds but second chance points were even at eight points apiece.
Cheryl Braithwait led Doane with 18 points and a game-high five assists. Vanessa Munter put in 17 points and notched a game-high three steals. Kristine Ortmeier came off the bench and finished with 14 points and Brittany Lurz added 11 points. Nicole Skolnick came up just shy of a double-double, finishing with seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs were paced by Treva Nutter's game-high 20 points and team-high two assists. Angela Kuca finished with 15 points, hitting a game-best four three-point baskets. Stacy Scheer and Kourtney Rahder added 10 points apiece. TaLisa Krejci and Kristin Miller led the team with five rebounds each and Krejci also had a game-high three steals.