New Look Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Season Opener
Nov 13, 2015
BOX SCORE
DULUTH, Minn. - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team utilized sophomore Abbey Meyer's 17 points, six assists, and five rebounds to outscore St. Scholastica by 10 in the fourth quarter, but ended up falling short, 71-69, in both team's season opener on Friday night.
A determined and youthful Spartan squad hung tough after facing a 16-point deficit early in the second quarter to claw their way back. The Spartans lost five senior starters from a year ago when they won their first Iowa Conference title and returned a team with a combined five starts, all from their top two returning scorers in Meyer and junior forward Emily Brinker.
"Some of our young guns got comfortable and we made a nice run for a chance to win or go into overtime," said Head Coach Mark Noll. "St. Scholastica came out on fire in first half, but we have so many new faces playing for us that made improvements in the second half. We will learn from tonight. Experience is everything."
Improve they did after draining nearly twice as many field goals, 26, in the second half as opposed to the first.
Brinker missed her first free throw, but tied it up at 69 on her second to complete a 9-1 run with 21 seconds to go in the game. The Saints milked the clock down to four seconds forcing Meyer to commit her fourth foul of the game. A pair of St. Scholastica makes from the charity stripe gave the Saints their final lead as Brinker missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Brinker, who averaged 9.1 points in 2014, scored nine points with six rebounds on the night on a team-high 14 shots. The budding sophomore trio of Meyer, Braanna Steen, and Kara Enos played well after converting five field goals each. Steen added 15 points and nine boards while Enos notched 11 points and five rebounds.
UD freshmen Madison Boer and Marissa Bell each scored four points and shot a combined 4-for-5 from the field.
The Spartans (0-1) shot 35 percent, while the Spartan defense held the Saints (1-0) to 37 percent shooting from the field and scored 11 points off 20 turnovers.
UD dropped to 3-1 in the all-time series against St. Scholastica.
UD faces UW-Superior this Sunday, November 15, at 3:00 p.m.
