Women's Basketball Pulls Away Late vs. Finlandia
Nov 9, 2019
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The 2019-20 season tipped-off on Saturday night for the UD women's basketball team, where they began the season with a gritty 84-71 win over Finlandia.
The Spartans got off to a slow start, falling behind by three around the midway point of the first quarter. The UD defense then cranked up the pressure, quickly building a 20 point lead by the midway point of the second quarter. Finlandia had a quick run of their own in them getting the UD lead down to 12 late in the second quarter before UD regained their momentum and got the lead up to 18 at halftime at 50-32. In the first half, the UD defense forced the Lions into 24 turnovers, leading to 32 UD points.
The UD offense went cold in the third quarter, shooting just 4-13 from the field, allowing the Lions to get within five by the end of the quarter. The UD lead would hang around one possession until with three minutes left, Abby Zurcher drained a three pointer from the top of the key, pushing it to at least two score lead for the remainder of the game.
Zurcher's clutch three pointer was just three of her game-high 30 points. In her first game at UD Tabria Thomas finished with 18 points on 6-8 shooting and 6-7 from the free throw line. On defense, the Spartans forced the Lions into a staggering 39 turnovers.
The Spartan women will not have another home game for the next month, beginning next Saturday when they hit the road to take on North Central College in Naperville, Ill. with a 3 p.m. tip-off.
