Contact: Emily Zadny, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Nov. 15, 2019 – The Loras College women's basketball team (2-0) opened the home portion of the schedule with a 93-81 win against a competitive top-25 matchup on Friday, hosting the No. 24 Washington University St. Louis Bears (0-1) on the first day of the Loras Tip-Off Classic.

Macenzie Kraemer scored first for the Duhawks less than a minute into the game, but the Bears responded to take a 10-5 lead off back-to-back three pointers. The regained control and took a 17-11 lead off two free-throws by Madison Fleckenstein and a steal by Kari Fitzpatrick helped set Kraemer up for a wide-open three and extend the lead 20-14.

WashU tried to make something happen on the next play, but it Marissa Schroeder was there to make the stop, blocking Rachel Mahler's layup. The Bears hit a three off the rebound with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter and picked off an errant pass at mid court to set up another offensive opportunity. The Duhawks challenged the Bears' offense, picking off a pass beyond the three-point line and getting the ball back into Kraemer's hands. She drew the foul and made both layups, giving Loras a 20-19 lead going into the second quarter.

After a two-minute scoring drought in the second quarter for both teams, Cierra Bachmann finessed her way through the Bears' defense to score the layup with 6:16 until halftime to put Loras ahead 36-25. WashU continued to battle back, scoring six unanswered points but gave up two fouls to put Schroeder on the line and give Loras a 42-33 lead with under three minutes to play in the half. WashU's Sammi Matoush added five points of her own off a three pointer and two free throws to help the Bears chip away at the Duhawks lead, but Loras closed out the half with up 45-41.

The Bears came into the second half ready to shoot as Samantha Weaver hit a three in the opening ten seconds. Courtney Schnoor responded with a bucket of her own and the Duhawks defense was able to keep the Bears at bay and the ball on their end of the court, forcing three turnovers and capitalizing with five points as a result. The momentum was slowly stalled after the Bears tied the game 52-52 following a 9-0 run with five minutes left in the quarter.

WashU took back the lead for the first time since the six minute mark in the first quarter following two free throws from Weaver. Madison Haslow was able to give the Duhawks a spark with the first basket in nearly six minutes and Fleckenstein brought Loras within two points of WashU with her layup a minute later. The Bears committed an offensive foul that gave the ball back to Loras and Kraemer tied the game 62-62 with 42 seconds in the quarter, but it was Weaver again who responded with a layup to put WashU ahead with six seconds on the clock. On the next possession, Eckhart drew the shooting foul and made both of her free throws to tie it back up 64-64 to end the third quarter.

Not satisfied with a tie game, the Duhawks came out and took a 76-72 lead in the final ten minutes off an overhead pass from Fitzpatrick to Schroeder on the low block for the layup. With 5:30 left in the game, the Duhawks drew the offensive foul to keep possession and took it right back off a three-second violation by the Bears. On WashU's next possession, the Duhawks took the ball right back off a steal by Fitzpatrick who dished it to Bachmann for the jumper, giving Loras a 79-72 lead with four minutes to play.

Weaver gave the Bears their first score in some time with a layup  with 2:40 remaining, but Fitzpatrick answered right back with a jumper to maintain Loras' seven-point advantage. The Duhawks held composure and forced the Bears to make the errors, scoring ten-straight points off free throws to secure the 93-81 win against the nationally-ranked Bears.

Schroeder posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Kraemer had a team-high 20 points. The Duhawks shot 80 percent from the free-throw line, including 13-14 in the fourth quarter.

Loras returns to the court Saturday, Nov. 16 at 4 P.M to play No. 17 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the championship game of the Classic.