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

INDIANOLA, Iowa (Dec. 7, 2019) – A momentum shift and 29 points in the fourth quarter helped the No. 18-ranked Loras College women's basketball team (7-1, 2-1 A-R-C) to victory on Saturday as the Duhawks celebrated a thrilling 85-80 comeback victory against American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) foe Simpson College (4-3, 1-2 A-R-C).

Courtney Schnoor found Marissa Schroeder in the paint early in the opening minute to give Loras the first score of the contest and held a 10-5 advantage off a jump shot from Macenzie Kraemer with 4:49 to play in the first quarter. The Storm rallied back with six-straight points to take the lead and force the Duhawks to call a timeout. Kraemer hit a layup out of the break to pull the Duhawks within one of Simpson with 2:55 to play but Simpson found a rhythm in the closing two minutes to hold a 25-19 lead after the first ten minutes.

Neither team found much success to open the second quarter, but it was the Storm to strike first with Cassie Nash hitting a three to extend the lead to nine. Schnoor put up the first score of the second quarter a minute later but Simpson responded again with a three-pointer and layup to lead 33-21. Madison Fleckenstein found the lane to spark a 6-0 run with 3:23 to play in the half but the Duhawks found themselves down 38-36 going into the locker room, although outscored the Storm 17-13 in the second quarter.

Simpson came into the second half with a three-pointer to start the scoring but Schnoor and Schroeder scored the next six points to cut the score 42-45 with 7:37 on the clock. Another three-pointer for Simpson gave the Storm the largest lead of the quarter, 54-46 with just over five minutes to play, and heading into the fourth quarter, Loras had cut Simpson's lead to 58-56 off a last-second jump shot by Kari Fitzpatrick. The Duhawks were knocking on the door, scoring a matching 20 points to Simpson's third quarter performance.

In the opening ten seconds of the fourth quarter, Kraemer found Schroeder in the paint for a tying jump shot and set Schnoor up for a layup off the rebound to put Loras ahead 60-58. The Duhawks diligently added to their lead but a three-pointer from Cassie Chubb with 4:32 to play tied the game 66-66. With two minutes left on the clock, Simpson went on a late run to pull ahead 75-70, but Schnoor drew a foul that put her on the line to shoot two and a three-pointer from Fitzpatrick gave Loras the lead with 39 seconds to play. The Duhawks' strength at the line proved momentous in the final seconds as Kraemer made all four of her free throws and Fitzpatrick made three of her own to give the Duhawks the well-earned 85-80 win.

Schnoor posted a season-best 25 points against the Storm and tallied nine rebounds while Schroeder posted her second-straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kraemer ended the night with 17 points, shooting 5-8 from the field and 7-8 from the line, and had a team-high six steals.

The next time Loras take the court will be outside of the United States as the Duhawks head to Puerto Rico for two games through the Puerto Rico Sports Tour. The first game is set for Thursday, Dec. 19 against Shenandoah University and tip-off is set for 2:30 P.M.