DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – The Loras College women's basketball team sealed 2015 with one of their top-performances in program history, defeating seventh-ranked Washington-St. Louis in the Athletic & Wellness Center on Thursday afternoon. Senior Kaitlin Phillips finished with 18 points while junior Lori Obendorf recorded her sixth double-double, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The win for the Duhawks was their first in program history over a top-10 team.

TURNING POINT
With 8:59 left in the second quarter the Bears scored a jumper to put themselves up 18-11 over the the Duhawks. This seven point deficit proved to be their largest lead of the night. Following the basket, Loras Head Coach Justin Heinzen called a timeout to regroup his team. The Duhawks took to the court and opened an 18-10 scoring run to take a 29-28 lead at halftime.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
The Duhawks and the Bears were both aggressive right from the opening tip. WashU scored the first points of the game, but the teams exchanged baskets throughout the first quarter. The Duhawks took their first lead in the third minute when a jumper from junior Kat Cabrera put them up 4-3. The score continued to fluctuate, however, as there were five lead changes in the first half alone.

The Bears created a small lead toward the end of the first with back-to-back jumpers by Jenn Dynis and Sarah Greene. Junior Lori Obendorf responded with a free throw to finish the quarter trailing 14-11.

Second Quarter
The Loras defense struggled to start the second quarter by allowing WashU to collect several offensive rebounds. Fortunately for the Duhawks, the Bears failed to convert any second chance points off of their 10 offensive rebounds in the first half. Obendorf stepped up to lead the defensive attack, recording a total of eight rebounds and three blocks in the first half. She put on a defensive showcase, contesting nearly each shot that her opposing counterpart, Lily Sarros took. Sarros finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.

This momentum transferred to the Duhawk's play on the other end of the court as they began to close in on the Bears. The final four minutes of the half ended in a battle of 3-pointers. Wash-U's Natalie Orr drained two for the Bears while sophomore Jess Brown and senior Megan Jones combined for six points behind the arc for the Duhawks. It was Jones' basket with 1:13 remaining that gave the Duhawks a 29-28 lead entering the halftime break.    

Third Quarter
Despite more fluctuation in the score to start the second half, the Duhawks never stopped pushing. Free throws were a large factor in Loras' ability to rack up points. The team went 26-of-30 from the line, compared to the Bears only attempting eight free throws and converting on four. Junior Terese McMahon's free throw with 3:58 remaining in the third gave Loras the lead for good.

In the final minutes of the quarter the Duhawks worked to extend this lead. Contributions from sophomore Miranda Chapman, Cabrera and Jones put the Duhawks up 46-40 after 30 minutes.

Fourth Quarter
Loras executed an offensive surge to open the final frame. The team took its first double-digit lead of the game with 7:07 remaining after two free throws from senior Kaitlin Phillips. Despite the Bears' attempt to mount a comeback, they never could overtake the Duhawks.

Free throws continued to assist the Loras in creating a deficit as the team took its largest lead of 14 points, 72-58, after Cabrera sunk two from the charity stripe. The Duhawks' remaining points of the game all came from free throws as WashU was forced to foul, trailing by as many as 14 with 1:07 to play. WashU fought until the final buzzer, finishing the game on a 4-for-4 run, but it was too little too late for the Bears.   

FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lori Obendorf | Obendorf collected her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds. She excelled on defensive adding four blocks and one steal, holding Bears forward, Lily Sarros, to nine points on the night.

SOUNDBITES | Kaitlin Phillips and Lori Obendorf


SOUNDBITES | Justin Heinzen


UP NEXT
The Duhawks will continue their home stand on Saturday, Jan. 2 when they face the University of Chicago. The Maroons (7-2)  have been off since Dec. 19, when they topped Puget Sound, 88-85. The Duhawks suffered a 72-69 loss to the Maroons on the road last season.