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

Nov. 12, 2021 – Behind a career-night for junior Madison Fleckenstein, the RV Loras College women's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 A-R-C) secured its second win of the 2021 season at the Patrick J. Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center on Friday, opening the first day of the Loras Tip-Off Classic with a 79-72 win against the University of Wisconsin-Stout (1-1, 0-0 WIAC).

The Duhawks won the opening tip and Sami Martin put Loras ahead with an early layup off an assist by Madison Haslow. Stout quickly found themselves in foul trouble, committing five in the first four minutes but regained control to take a 14-9 lead with 2:22 in the quarter. A pair of free-throws by Alli Udelhofen and a layup by Cierra Bachmann off the fast-break following a takeaway by Haslow put Loras within one point, 13-14, and Martin stole the ball back for a quick possession and scored the go-ahead layup with one minute on the clock. Haslow tacked on another layup to close out the first quarter with a 17-14 Loras lead.

Stout took back the lead early in the second quarter, 22-19 but Fleckenstein challenged back with a jump shot off the pass from Sydney Schuler to come back within one with six minutes left in the half. Schuler tied the game 24-24 with a three-pointer and Megan Murray came away with a steal before finding Jaime Ryan open in the paint for the layup to lead 26-24. The teams played neck and neck through the second half of the quarter but closed out the half with a jump shot by Allie Brownson to take a one-point lead and a three-pointer by Fleckenstein to put Loras up 35-31.

Coming out of the break, the Blue Devils scored six points in the first two minutes to lead 37-35 but a pair of layups by Bachmann and Murray put Loras back on top, 39-37. Udelhofen completed a three-point play to extend the lead with five minutes to play in the third but the Blue Devils did not give up and kept it a one-point game going into the final quarter as the Duhawks led 53-52.
A barrage of three-pointers by Schuler and Haslow put Loras up 62-55 to start the final ten minutes of play for their largest lead of the game before Fleckenstein extended it to a nine-point advantage with 3:00 left to play. The Blue Devils tried to chip away at Loras' lead but even as the game came down to a battle at the free-throw line, the Duhawks had enough of the edge to thwart Stout's comeback and continued the home win streak with a 79-72 victory.

Fleckenstein led all players with a career-high 18 points and tied the team lead with seven rebounds along with Haslow who added nine points. Bachmann and Schuler each scored 12 and Martin posted ten. Both Fleckenstein and Bachmann had three assists and Bachmann had a team-high eight free throws, shooting 80 percent from the line. Udelhofen went a perfect 5-5 at the free-throw line and Murray played scrappy on defense with three steals. The Duhawks forced Stout to turn the ball over 32 times and posted 30 points off those turnovers.