There’s no place like home.
At least, that’s what the Doane women’s basketball team will tell you after defeating Midland Lutheran 62-47 Wednesday night on its home court.
Senior Vanessa Munter said the team felt more comfortable playing in Fuhrer Field House.
“It always helps when we play at home,” she said. “We’ve played well on our court all year and we just need to continue doing that.”
Senior Lindsey Shaw agreed that the location helped give the Tigers the advantage.
“We always play well at home, and it was a great game,” she said. “We’re a strong team, so even when we slipped up, we were able to hold on and did well at not letting them (Midland Lutheran) take over.”
Shooting an average of 39.4 percent from the field, the women increase their record to 12-16, with 8-9 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) play.
After two disappointing losses last week, junior Brittany Lurz said the team was focused coming into this game.
“Our defense was better this time,” she said. “We had a better midline, we took a couple of charges. But we focused on defense and really worked at it. It’s what gets us going in the game.”
Shaw agreed that the team had the drive to beat Midland, especially since it was Senior Night honoring Munter’s high school.
“Vanessa (Munter) was our senior tonight, and her play was definitely a factor in the win,” she said. “She’s been a key for us all season, but tonight was really a team effort. I mean, there are some of us that play better than others at times, but we won this game as a team.”
Munter lead the scoring against the Warriors, coming away with 22 points for the night, followed by Kristine Ortmeier with 10 and Cheryl Braithwait with 9.
The Tigers are optimistic as they look toward their final home game of the season, hoping their home court energy will last through the weekend.
Lurz said that she thinks the team will do well against Dordt College on Saturday.
“It’s our home court, and we always have so much more energy and intensity.”
Shaw said she’s the fans play a big factor when Doane plays at home.
“It’ll be a great game (against Dordt), especially with the home court advantage,” she said. “The home crowd is so supportive and really drives us.”
With three more seniors to honor, Munter said she wants to see the same intensity as she saw tonight.
“Well, Dordt is ahead of us in the GPAC, but I think we’ll be able to pull it off,” she said. “It’s senior night again and we’re at home. We’ve just got to take advantage of that and play our game.”
Both the women and the men will take on Dordt College at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday.
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