Spartans Comeback Bid Falls Short
Feb 17, 2018
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque women's basketball team nearly pulled off a miracle comeback on Saturday afternoon after trailing by as many as 30 points, but fell just short and lost the season finale to rival Loras College, 78-71.
Things looked bleak for the Spartans from the early portion of the game as Loras outscored UD 27-11 in the first quarter and 53-29 in the first half. The Duhawks shot a staggering 61.3% from the field in the first half, while the Spartans shot a freezing 32.4%.
After Loras gained a 30 point lead with 8:18 left in the third frame, the Spartans began to slowly chip away and had it down to a 20 point deficit as Allison Roach had a put back layup to end the third quarter on a 6-0 run. UD carried that run over to the final quarter, scoring the first six points of the final quarter and cut the score to 70-56 with 6:51 remaining.
After Abbey Meyer scored five straight points for UD and a Madison Boer three pointer, the Spartans were within eight with 2:48 remaining. Allison Roach followed that up with a layup and free throw of her own to cut it to five. After a Loras made one of two from the free throw line, Crystal Rios drilled a clutch three pointer with 40 seconds left to get the Spartans within two points. However Loras would break the press following a UD timeout and convert on their free throws in the final seconds to end UD’s valiant comeback attempt. UD limited Loras to 39.1% shooting in the second half and just 18.2% in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans end the season with a 5-20 record, however the should return a wealth of talent as the Spartans only have two seniors on the roster. On senior night, Abbey Meyer did not have her best shooting performance, going 3-13 from the field but still came close to achieving a triple-double. Meyer finished with nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The other senior, Allison Biermeier capped her career with five points on 2-3 shooting with one rebound and one steal.
Meyer closes out her UD career with 100 games played, the 16th Spartan in program history to reach that mark. Meyer tallied 1,061 points, for 11th most in school history, 270 assists, which is fifth most in school history and 402 rebounds. Biermeier finishes her career as the seventh best three-point shooter in school history, making 33.9% (52-153) from beyond the arc. She played in 100 games with 35 starts and totaled 365 points and 181 rebounds in her time at UD.
