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

PELLA, Iowa (Jan. 30, 2021) – Freshman Sami Martin opened American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) action with the Loras College women's basketball team (2-2, 0-1 A-R-C) with her first career double-double in the Duhawks' 69-54 loss against Central College (3-0, 3-0 A-R-C) on Saturday, leading the charge for the Duhawks in a tightly contested battle from start to finish at P.H Kuyper Gymnasium.

Cierra Bachmann wasted no time finding Allie Brownson in the paint to get the Duhawks on the board to start the game but the Dutch tied it up to 4-4 with just under eight minutes to play in the first quarter. After a free-throw by Ashley Funk, Sami Martin grabbed a steal away from Central and proceeded to score six unanswered points for the Duhawks, extending the lead, 11-4. Madison Haslow got in on the action with a three-pointer to give Loras a 14-4 lead and silence the Dutch for nearly three minutes, but Central halted the run with a layup and two three-pointers to cut the lead to 14-12 with 3:21 remaining in the quarter. Bachmann gave the Duhawks back the four-point advantage with a layup but the Dutch closed out the quarter with a layup and free throw to narrow the gap 18-17 after ten minutes of play.

It took the Dutch two minutes to score in the second quarter, taking a 19-18 lead until Funk answered back with a layup to regain control 20-19 with 7:21 left in the half. Central battled back to take the one point lead a minute later and once again, Funk put Loras ahead by one with a pair of free-throws with 5:20 left on the clock, until the Dutch found a burst of momentum to take their largest lead of the contest, up 28-22 with under four minutes remaining. As the Dutch were on the cusp of a ten-point lead, Martin drained a three-pointer off an assist from Brownson to put Loras within six points and added three more points to close out the half. Central extended their lead going into the locker room with a pair of free throws in the final seconds, leading the Duhawks 39-30.

The Dutch went on an early run to open the second half and grew the lead 46-32 with 7:15 left in the third quarter until back-to-back layups from Martin brought Loras within nine points, 46-37, two minutes later. The Dutch took back a double-digit lead with 3:51 left but Loras closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run off free throws from Martin and Alli Udelhofen and a three-pointer from Bachmann to cut the deficit, 48-43, going into the fourth quarter and limit Central to only nine points.

Both teams traded points in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter looking to come away with a break but neither team was able to build momentum for nearly three minutes until Central broke the trend to score four points and lead 57-47 with 5:30 remaining. Martin remained hot as she had throughout the game, hitting a pair of free-throws and forcing the turnover on the following possession to sink the jump shot, minimizing Central's lead, 57-51, with four minutes to play. Central stopped the run with a layup but Sydney Schuler made her move on the next possession, draining a three-pointer to bring the Duhawks within five with just over three minutes to play. The Dutch found their rhythm, though, in the final two minutes, and pulled away with a 10-0 run to close the game and hand Loras its first A-R-C loss of the season.   

Martin led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 10-15 from the field, and paced the Duhawks' defense with 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Haslow had six rebounds of her own and she and Ryan each added three assists.

The Duhawks host cross-town rival the University of Dubuque on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 P.M. Limited spectators are allowed in accordance with Loras' winter home event attendance policy but links to live in-game coverage can be found HERE.