The Doane women's basketball team kept their home court winning streak alive and in turn, kept their hopes for a First Round GPAC Tournament home game in sight. The Tigers defeated Midland Lutheran College on Wednesday evening, 62-47. Doane will host Dordt College on Saturday. Both teams got off to a sluggish start before the Warriors got on the scoreboard three minutes into the game. Doane final broke through with 16:32 left in the first half on a three-point basket by Cheryl Braithwait. Midland Lutheran responded with an 8-0 run to take a 10-3 lead. Kerry Butzke posted five points during the run for the Warriors.
From that point on it was all Tigers. Doane went on a 31-6 run over the next 14 minutes of play to take a 34-16 lead into halftime. The Tigers took the lead on back-to-back baskets by Madara Upeniece. Brittany Lurz hit a three-point basket to close out the scoring in the first half to give Doane their largest lead in the first stanza.
In the second half, Doane continued to put pressure on the Warriors and eventually led by 31 at 50-19. Over 20 minutes of play, the Tigers outscored Midland Lutheran 47-9. The Warriors closed out the game with the advantage, narrowing the Doane lead to 15 by the end of the game.
Vanessa Munter led Doane with 22 points, nine rebounds and six steals, all game highs. Kristine Ortmeier came off the bench to contribute 10 points and a game-high four assists. In total, nine players scored for the Tigers.
Kelli Hermsmeyer finished with 12 points and nine rebounds to pace Midland Lutheran College. Trisha Hoffman added nine points and seven rebounds while Butzke finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Doane will enter the final regular season game of the year with their sights set on home-court advantage in the GPAC Tournament First Round. A win by Doane over Dordt College will give them a home game on February 23; a loss would send the Tigers on the road in the First Round.