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

Feb. 14, 2022 – The Loras College women's basketball team (17-6, 11-3 A-R-C) completed the season sweep of Luther College (8-15, 5-9 A-R-C) on Monday as the Duhawks found a late surge in the second half that was just enough to take down the Norse, 73-68, inside the Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.

The Duhawks took a 10-2 lead to start the game but the Norse came charging back to score 13 unanswered points and control much of the first half to take a 15-10 lead with 90 seconds left in the opening quarter. Madison Fleckenstein drained a jumper to stop the run and Sami Martin made a layup and drew the foul, making her free throw to bring Loras within on point with 30 seconds remaining. Cierra Bachmann tacked on two more as time wore down to give Loras the 17-16 edge going into the second quarter.

The Norse tied it again to start the second quarter with a three-pointer and followed with another layup off a missed shot by the Duhawks but Loras responded right back as Allie Brownson made a layup to tie it and Martin grabbed a steal and took it to the hoop for the go-ahead points. Luther took back the brief lead until Sydney Schuler made a three-pointer to swing it back in favor of the Duhawks with 5:20 left in the half. Back-to-back layups by Bachmann and a three-pointer by Madison Haslow helped the Duhawks open up a six-point lead with under two minutes remaining and a layup by Fleckenstein in the final 30 seconds gave the Duhawks the 35-29 lead heading into halftime.

Martin helped the Duhawks get off on a strong start with seven points to open the third quarter but Luther was still fighting and came back within two points, 42-40, with 4:30 on the clock. Hannah Thiele gave the Duhawks a bit of a cushion with a three-pointer on the next possession and Fleckenstein and Haslow joined in on the three-point fun with two of their own, putting Loras up 57-47 going into the fourth quarter. The Norse came as close as within four points early in the final ten minutes until a jumper by Fleckenstein sparked back-to-back three-pointers from Haslow and Megan Murray to open up a 13-point lead with four minutes left to play. The Norse could not keep the momentum in the final minutes while Haslow found her groove in the final minute with a layup and three-pointer to help seal Loras' 78-63 win.

Martin had a team-high 20 points and seven assists for her third-straight 20 or more point performance. She also led the team with four steals. Fleckenstein added 15 points with a team-high seven assists and Haslow went 3-5 from three-point range for 13 points and Bachmann added ten with five assists. The Duhawks only gave up nine turnovers while the Norse gave up 19, but the visitors won the battle at the boards with 34 rebounds while Loras grabbed 30.

The win also marked the 250th under the direction of head coach Justin Heinzen in his 15th season.

The Duhawks host one more regular season game at home on Wednesday, Feb. 16, hosting crosstown rival the University of Dubuque at 5:30 P.M.