Women's Basketball Battle #10-ranked Wartburg to the End
Feb 15, 2017
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team fought for a solid 40 minutes, but the upset fell short when the Wartburg College Knights sank six free throws in the final minute to capture the conference tilt 66-76. The #10-ranked Knights would swap the lead 10 times with the Spartans and UD tied the top ranked Knights another 15 times on Wednesday night. Wartburg's biggest lead was 10 points at the end of the game.
UD's lone senior Emily Brinker led them in scoring with 17 points and six assists. Madison Boer sank 6-8 attempts from the field and 3-4 free throw attempts to add 15 points. UD would out score the Knights in the paint 34-30. UD scored 20 points off the 18 Knight's turnovers, while Wartburg scored 18 points off the 16 Spartan miscues.
The Spartans (5-10 in IIAC, 9-15 overall) play their final regular season game on Saturday against the Coe College Kohawks (6-9 in IIAC, 11-13 overall) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. UD might finish in a four-way tie in league play in the right scenario. UD/NWU/COE/SIM all four teams could finish with 3-3 records versus each other. Against the top of the IIAC standings, #1-seed Wartburg swept all four. The Spartans and Nebraska Wesleyan are 1-1 versus #2 seed Luther. Coe and Simpson are both 0-2 against #2-seed Luther. A much needed win for UD against the Kohawks could be the win to get the squad into the 2017 IIAC Tournament. NWU would be #5 seed due to the head-to-head sweep of the Spartans and UD would get the #6 seed.
Current standings:
#1 Seed - Wartburg 14-1 in IIAC, 22-2 overall
#2 Seed - Luther 11-4 in IIAC, 15-9 overall
#3/#4 Seed - Loras 9-6 in IIAC, 15-9 overall
#3/#4 Seed - Buena Vista 9-6 in IIAC, 13-11 overall
Nebraska Wesleyan 6-9 in IIAC, 13-11 overall
Coe 6-9 in IIAC, 11-13 overall
Simpson 6-10 in IIAC, 9-16 overall
UD 5-10 in IIAC, 9-15 overall
Central 2-13 in IIAC, 9-15 overall
