Spartans Win Thriller, Headed to IIAC Championship Game
Feb 22, 2013 | J.Crane
WAVERLY, IOWA – The University of Dubuque Women’s Basketball team once again made history on Friday night. The Spartans 73-65 victory over Wartburg College (16-10) sends them to the Iowa Conference Tournament Championship game for the first time in the programs history. UD set a new school record in the contest with 15 three-pointers made. Dubuque is 20-7 overall.
After a slow start in which the Spartans trailed 8-0 in the first 3:30, the three ball began to fly for UD. The Spartans answered back with five three-pointers in the next three minutes to take a 15-12 lead at the 13:18 minute mark of the first half. Sophomore Meggie Schmidt (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) came off the bench and made three of four three-point attempts to get the momentum going in the Spartans direction. Schmidt finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
The Spartans and Knights would trade leads throughout the first half with seven lead changes and four tied game situations. UD led 30-28 at the break with 19 points coming from the bench.
Leading the Spartans in scoring for the 18th straight game was Mollie Whiting (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) with 21 points. Whiting’s last basket of the game gave her 1,700 career points and is currently seven points away from the school record. She extended her streak of 20+ point games to 17 games and has scored 15 or more points in 21 straight contests. She has scored at least 15 points in 24 of 27 games this season. Whiting also finished with nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Dubuque closed the game on a 7-0 run over the last minute to extend what was a one point game into an eight point victory. The Spartans held Wartburg scoreless over the final 2:12.
Starting center Stephanie Remakel (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) pulled down a team high 12 rebounds. Remakel has been in double figure rebounds in three of the last four games and been the team leader in six straight. Remakel also blocked two shots in the contest.
The largest lead of the game for UD came on a Whiting jumper with 11:23 left in the second half with the Spartans leading 51-42. The basket capped a 10-2 run for UD.
Seniors Ashley Barwick (Appleton, Wis./Xavier) and Krystal Pritchett (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) each scored 11 points. The senior class (Barwick, Pritchett, Whiting, and Jena Darwin) accounted for 43 of 73 total points.
The Spartans set a new school record for points in a season with 1,882 points. The old record of 1,838 had stood since the 2002-03 season.
UP NEXT: The Spartans will travel to Indianola, Iowa to take on #12 Simpson College (24-2) on Sunday, February 24th at 2:00 pm in the IIAC Tournament Championship Game. The winner of Sunday's game earns the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on March 1st. The Spartans and Storm split during the regular season with each team winning on the road.
