DECORAH, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – Losing to your bitter rivals is never an enjoyable taste, but for the Loras Women's Basketball team, they were able to freshen their breath on Saturday against 25th-ranked Luther College. The Norse, who entered Saturday tied atop the leaderboard in the Iowa Conference, were handed their second straight loss as the Duhawks won 70-69. Junior Kaitlin Phillips led the way with 24 points, including the game-winning layup with six seconds remaining.

Both teams struggled out of the gate with credit due to the defense that was being played. The Duhawks (10-7, 4-2) grabbed the early lead on two free throws from Kaitlin Phillips. Little did Loras know at the time, but that lead would stand for nearly the entirety of the game.

Halfway through the first half, Loras held a 14-5 lead on a balanced scoring attack. The defenses wore down as the half went on, resulting in more offense. For Loras, their constant battle all night was off the inbounds pass as Luther (14-3, 4-2) operated with a full-court press all game.

The Norse closed the half on a 13-3 run spanning the final 6:14. In that stretch, the Duhawks missed five shots and committed four turnovers, much of which can be attributed to the extended pressure Luther enforced.

Holding a six-point lead after 20 minutes, Loras refueled and came out in the second half on a mission. Unfortunately, so did Luther as the Norse nearly went point-for-point over the first five minutes.

Beginning with 11:21 to play, Luther kicked their offense into gear, starting down a 16-9 run over the next four and a half minutes to cut the Duhawks lead to just three with 6:44 to play.

Trailing 52-49, Luther mounted another run, this time spanning 6:10, but this time, resulting in the lead. A huge part of the Norse's comeback was their ability to hit from distance as they went 5-for-5 from three over the final 3:20 of the game.

With 34 ticks left on the clock, Kylie Romero drained a 3-pointer with a defender in her face to give Luther their first lead of the night and push the Duhawks to the brink.

Just like she had done all game up until that point, Kaitlin Phillips took the ensuing inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the court, finding a seam on the right side of the lane, and kissed her layup off the glass and in to steal the lead back for Loras with just six seconds left on the clock.

Head coach Justin Heinzen immediately called for his final timeout to draw up a defensive scheme that he knew would seal the win. Instead of pressuring the Luther guards, like Loras had been doing all night, Heinzen called for his defenders to sit back, inside the arc, and force Luther to dribble at them.

The strategy worked as Moran Lonning brought the ball across half court and was caught off guard and unable to get a shot off before time expired.
 

Game Changer

Luther held their first lead of the game with 31 seconds to play … With a loud and boisterous crowd in the Regents Center, Loras refused to buckle under the pressure and came right down the court to score the game-winning basket
 

Key Stat

Kaitlin Phillips was sent to the charity stripe six times on the day, converting 10-of-12, more than double of what any other play was able to do in the game
 

Notables

• Kaitlin Phillips' 24 points is a season-best … Before Saturday, her previous best was 23 in the season opener against UW-Platteville
• Kaitlin Phillips has now eclipsed 200 points in a season for the second time in her career and is at 589 for her career
• Saturday was the second win this season for the Duhawks over a ranked opponent (W, 67-64 vs. #20 Saint Ambrose – November 30)
• Saturday was the first road win for Loras since November 30 against Saint Ambrose
• Terese McMahon's finished with 14 points for her third double-digit scoring effort in the month of January and fourth of the season

Quotable
Kaitlin Phillips, junior guard

"Today's win was huge for us. We hope that this can kick off a good stretch towards a late season run and allow us to use the momentum through the rest of the conference schedule."

Justin Heinzen, head coach

"I thought our guards handled the pressure from Luther pretty well overall. With the exception of the last three minutes of the half where it got kind of frantic. With as much pressure and trapping that they provided, we controlled the tempo and made it into a half court game."

"What was different about Kaitlin's game today was that everything was in the paint. Lately, she's been settling for jump shots, which is why her numbers haven't been like they were last year. She was really explosive and they had a hard time keeping up with her."
 

What's Next?

Loras returns to the comforts of home next week when they host Wartburg (11-6, 2-4) on Wednesday with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. Last year, Loras swept both meetings in the regular season, defeating the Knights 89-75 in Waverly and 64-51 in Dubuque.