WHEATON, Ill. (Duhawks.com) – The Loras College Women's Basketball team faced a tough opponent on the road on Wednesday, falling 68-41 to 14th-ranked Wheaton College. Sophomore Kat Cabrera, senior
Victoria May, and sophomore
Lori Obendorf each netted six points to lead the Duhawks. May and Obendorf also led the team with 12 and 11 rebounds respectively.
The Thunder (9-1) got off to a quick start putting the Duhawks on their heels from the opening tip. Both teams struggled to get quality shots off in the first few minutes.
Carly Goede was the benefactor of a May steal in the first minute but her fast break attempt was blocked allowing the Thunder to respond with the first points of the day. The Loras offense continued to struggle as the Thunder settled into a zone defense, denying jumpers from both May and
Kaitlin Phillips in the opening minutes.
A series of turnovers and steals by both sides increased the pressure but both the offenses continued to struggle to make shots. Eventually, it was the Thunder that settled in and found their offensive rhythm, scoring 10 unanswered points to extend their lead to 13-2 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Duhawks (6-5) battled back to cut the lead to 17-12 with nine minutes remaining as freshman
Miranda Chapman battled through the lane to sink a layup. Loras swiped a number of turnovers in the remainder of the half but were unable to capitalize on them as many of their points came from the free throw line.
After 20 minutes, the Thunder held a 28-19 advantage. Wheaton held Loras to just 20.8 percent shooting in the opening half, including forcing the Duhawks to go 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
The second half started in similar fashion as the first as both sides struggled offensively in the opening minutes. Goede sunk the Duhawks' first three-pointer of the day with just under 18 minutes to go in the half, cutting the Thunder's lead to nine with 17:45 remaining in the game.
Wheaton went on a 14-0 run spanning nearly seven minutes to take complete control of the game, running their lead to 55-28.
With both teams turning to their bench late in the game, the Thunder rode their advantage the remainder of way, finishing off Loras 68-41.
Game ChangerWheaton opened the game on a 13-2 run, forcing the Duhawks to miss their first eight shots of the game, a lead that Loras was never able to recover from
Key StatThe Thunder had 48 rebounds and forced 18 turnovers, while the Duhawks had 40 rebounds and forced 13 turnovers
Notables QuotableJustin Heinzen, head coach"We weren't ready physically to compete with them from the start and we were playing on our heels, which hurt us especially under the boards. We were playing too vertical, instead of getting to the line or getting to the rim. Their pressure hurt us today. We lost by 27, but defensively I still think we had some good things. Buena Vista will be a different match up and the good news is we have six days to practice and get our feet back under ourselves. We've been going really hard for the past three weeks so it will be good for some of our kids to get a break."
Up NextThe Duhawks will kick off conference play as they take on the Buena Vista Beavers (5-6) at home on Wednesday, January 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
