MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (Dec. 20, 2022) – No, you're not seeing double. For the second time in just a 10-day span, Loras College women's basketball has pulled off an upset of the nation's ninth-ranked team, this time in the form of a convincing 73-52 win over No. 9 Babson College on day two of the Cruzin' Classic in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The Duhawks (8-2) took a lead early in the second quarter against the Beavers (7-1) and never looked back as they pulled away late in the game to hand Babson its first loss of the season. Loras just recently beat the then-No. 9 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 88-79 at home on Dec. 10, making this back-to-back wins over ranked teams.

Loras was 0-7 against ranked opponents in 2021-22, but is now 2-0 in those games in the early going of 2022-23.

The Duhawks trailed 17-16 at the first quarter break on Tuesday morning, but started the second quarter on a 10-2 run to prompt a Babson timeout. That proved to be the game's final lead change despite the Beavers holding the margin to single digits for much of the remainder of the game.

Loras finally started pulling away in the fourth quarter as a three-pointer from sophomore forward Emerson Whittenbaugh with just over six minutes to play gave the Duhawks an 11-point advantage, equaling their largest lead at that point in the game.

Back-to-back buckets from Babson cut the lead down to seven with five minutes to play, but those four points would be the last of the game for the Beavers as sophomore guard Silvana Scarsella drained a three-pointer to put the Duhawks back in front by 10.

That basket started what would be a 14-0 run to close out the game by the Duhawks. Free throws were huge down the stretch as Loras connected on 14 of its 16 attempts in the game, including a 10-for-12 output in the fourth quarter to pull away with another marquee victory.

Scarsella had been inching towards a breakout performance with a run of three straight games of scoring exactly 12 points, and that moment finally came on Tuesday as she doubled that total for a new career-high of 24 points in the upset. The Des Plaines, Ill. native finished 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-9 from behind the three-point line as her 24 points marks the most for a Duhawk in a single game this season.

Not to be overshadowed, junior guard Sami Martin secured her third double-double of the season as she finished with season-highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Whittenbaugh and senior guard Madison Fleckenstein each tallied 10 points.

Senior guard Cierra Bachmann filled her stat sheet and set season-highs with seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals while adding five points to help the cause.

The Duhawks return to the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center on Thursday, Dec. 29 for the first of two days of the Loras Holiday Tournament. Loras will face Calvin University at 4 P.M. in the second game of the day.