Contact: Mark Johnson, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Feb. 1, 2020- The No. 12 Loras College women's basketball team (18-2, 9-2 A-R-C) bested American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) opponent Simpson College (14-5, 6-4 A-R-C) by a final score of 76-72 as Courtney Schnoor posted her second double-double of the week.

This A-R-C matchup started slowly with almost two-game minutes passing by before the silence was broken as the Storm got on the scoreboard first. However, Kari Fitzpatrick answered quickly for the Duhawks with a three-point basket of her own followed by a layup from Schnoor to tie the game 5-5. This momentum sparked a 6-0 run for the Duhawks to give them the 11-5 advantage at the halfway point in the first quarter. The Storm responded by going on a run of their own to take the lead 14-11 at the 3:55 mark in the first quarter as the two teams battled back and forth. The Duhawks scored two late free throws from Riley Eckhart and a jump shot by Marissa Schroeder to cut the Storms lead to just six points at the end of the first quarter making the score 23-17.

The Duhawks started slow at the beginning of the second quarter and fell behind by 10 points to the Storm after they made two consecutive layups to start the quarter. Schnoor eventually got the Duhawks on the board with a layup while Madison Haslow quickly followed Schnoor's lead with a layup of her own off the pass from Marissa Schroeder cutting the Storm's lead to just eight points. Loras kept chipping away at the Storm's lead after Schnoor made a layup followed by two free throws from Ashley Funk to cut the Storm's lead to just three points the smallest margin of the quarter. Simpson answered with two free throws of their own to extend their lead to five points. The Duhawks head into the locker room down 37-32.

The Duhawks struck first in the second half with a huge three-point basket from Fitzpatrick but the Strom answered with a three-point basket of their own to keep their lead at five points. The Duhawks were on fire from beyond the arc in the third quarter making seven three-point baskets with two of them coming back-to-back first from Macenzie Kraemer then Fitzpatrick to give Loras a 41-40 lead. The back and forth action quickly ensued as the Storm answered with a three-point basket to regain the lead until Eckhart tied the game back up with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter. Eckhart kept the three-point train alive for the Duhawks giving them a three-point lead while Fitzpatrick scored a three-point basket of her own after a Storm layup to give the Duhawks a five-point lead at the 3:38 mark. Simpson kept the pressure on the Duhawks chipping away at the Duhawks small lead until Loras scored back to back three-pointers courtesy of Eckhart and Kraemer to give the Duhawks their largest lead of the game so far at nine points. The Storm scored the last five points of the quarter to make the score 57-53 Duhawks heading into the final quarter of play.

Kraemer continued with her hot hand from the third quarter scoring a deep three-point basket to get things for the Duhawks in the fourth quarter. Simpson kept the pressure on after cutting the Duhawks lead to just one point with 6:26 left to play in the game before taking a 64-63-point lead at the 6:13 mark. Loras regained the lead on their next possession after Eckhart made a jump shot and held onto this lead for the rest of the game. The Storm kept fighting back cutting the Duhawks lead to just two points before Kraemer made two free throws to seal the deal for Loras giving them a four-point lead with 25 seconds left to play. Fitzpatrick finished the game off for the Duhawks with back to back three throws giving the Duhawks the victory by a score of 76-72.

The Duhawks finished the game with all five starters in double figures. Kraemer lead in scoring with 17 points and a team-high five steals while Fitzpatrick added 16 points shooting a perfect 4-4 from three-point range. Eckhart tallied 15 points while Schroeder added 12 points and eight rebounds. Schnoor finished the game with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds posting her second double-double of the week.
 
 Loras travels to Storm Lake, Iowa for another A-R-C matchup against Buena Vista University as the Duhawks face off against the Beavers on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Tip-off is set for 5:30 P.M.