Feb. 4, 2023 – Things just got better and better for the (RV) Loras College women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon as the Duhawks celebrated its senior class with a 75-47 thumping of Central College.
The Duhawks (17-4, 10-2 A-R-C) reached double-digit wins in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play Saturday while completing their season sweep of the Dutch (6-15, 3-9 A-R-C). With the win, the Duhawks keep pace with unbeaten Wartburg College and are 2.5 games up on third-place Coe College as the season heads for the home stretch.
Seniors
Cassidy Maroszek,
Alli Udelhofen, and
Allie Brownson got their first starts of the season alongside seniors
Madison Fleckenstein and
Cierra Bachmann while
Madison Haslow was one of the first off the bench. Those six players were part of the pregame senior festivities along with team managers Sarah Cunningham and HayLee Virden.
Loras wasted no time in taking control of this game as it scored the first six points of the game, then led by double-digits just six minutes into the game after a three-pointer from junior guard
Sami Martin made it 14-4 in favor of the Duhawks.
After leading by 10 after the first quarter, the Duhawks scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second quarter to lead by 19. The Dutch showed a little life early in the third quarter to cut the lead down to 12, but it never got close enough to create any real concern in the Loras huddle.
Loras went on a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter and pushed the lead all the way to 33 points, putting a final bow on a dominating team victory. A big part of Loras' success was its prowess on the offensive glass as the Duhawks pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 17 second-chance points. Loras limited Central to just five such points in the game.
Fleckenstein and Bachmann led the Duhawks in scoring with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Fleckenstein finished 5-for-9 from the field and added four rebounds while Bachmann made her presence felt more on the defensive end of the court as she flirted with an unlikely triple-double.
Bachmann totaled 12 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high eight steals to lead her team in multiple facets of the game that saw 13 different Duhawks score points.
Loras stays home again next week as it hosts Luther College on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 P.M.
