Women's Basketball Late Push Not Enough
Jan 15, 2018
DECORAH, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team tried to rally on the road in the fourth quarter on Monday night, but came up just short and fell to Luther College, 77-72.
Despite a slow offensive start for the Spartans, in which they only scored five points in the first six and a half minutes, the defense kept the Luther offense in check. UD's offense finally started to find its rhythm, scoring nine of the last 11 points over the final three minutes of the first quarter and taking a 14-11 lead into the second. The Spartan offense stayed in sync in the second period, answering any mini run the Norse tried putting together but the Spartans could never build the lead up to more than five points and took a 31-27 lead into the break.
Luther went on a 12-0 in just two minutes in the early portion of the second half, flipping the lead from five point UD lead to a seven point Luther lead. Luther would go on to outscore UD 30-14 in the third quarter and built a lead to as many as 15 at one points. Facing a 12 point deficit at the begining of the fourth quarter, the Spartans did not quit, going on a 9-0 run over the opening 4:30 of the final quarter to come within one possesion of Luther. However, the Norse would respond with a quick 7-0 run to build their lead back up to double digits. UD would chip away and make it a one score game again with 22 seconds left but Luther would make their free throws to seal the game.
Abbey Meyer led the Spartan offense with 20 points and seven assists. Meyer struggled from the field, going 6-16, but went 8-10 from the free throw line. She also grabbed two steals. Crystal Rios carried her strong offensive performance from last game over to tonight, making four of seven three pointers for all 12 of her points. Morgan Boer had a solid game in the post, scoring 14 points and hauling in six rebounds. Two other Spartans, Allison Biermeier and Allison Roach, would also bring in six rebounds.
UD ended up outshooting Luther, shooting 38.1%, while holding Luther to just 34.7% shooting from the field and 17.4% from behind the three point line. a key difference in this game was UD turning the ball over 26 times and Luther only turning it over 15 times.
The Spartans have a quick turnaround, as they host Coe College on Wednesday night at 6:00 in the Stoltz Sports Center.
