Women's Basketball Upset Bid of #11 Loras Falls Shorts
Jan 18, 2020
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women’s basketball team battled the #11 Loras College Duhawks until the end but came up short, 79-73.
It took the Spartan offense a bit to get going, falling behind 9-0 in the opening two minutes and scored just five points in the opening five minutes, all from Tabria Thomas. The Duhawk offense started off hot, building a 10 point lead at one point in the first quarter until the UD defense cranked up the intensity, which would lead to 10 fast break points on their way to taking their first lead at 26-25 in the waning seconds of the quarter. Each team would shoot 61.1% and Loras led 27-26 after one quarter of action.
The scoring pace slowed down in the second quarter and the two teams traded leads twice and were tied once to give Loras just a two-point lead at halftime after a Kathleen Mathias layup with six seconds remaining before half. Mathias paced the UD offense in the first half with 13 points on 6-9 shooting, while Josie Thomas added 10 points of her own off of the bench,
With the Spartans trailing 51-46 midway through the third, the Spartan offense went cold again, scoring just three points over the final 5:38 to go into the fourth quarter trailing 60-49. Jaden Kelley and Thomas opened up the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups to get within seven points but from there on the Duhawks showed why they are the #11 team in the nation. The Spartans would fall behind as many as 19 in the fourth but got back as close as six points but it was too late.
In 31 minutes, Tabria Thomas led all scorers with 21 points after going 7-12 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line. Kathleen Mathias was held without a basket in the second half but still finished with 14 points. Josie Thomas sank three three-pointers on her way to a 13 point performance.
UD would actually outshoot Loras, connecting on 46.7% of their shots, while Loras made 44.8% of theirs. The Spartans also won the battle on the glass, out rebounding the Duhawks, 33-28
The Spartans will stay on the road and travel to Decorah to take on Luther College on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd at 5:30 p.m.
