Feb. 8, 2023 – Wednesday night's game might have been a little personal to the (RV) Loras College women's basketball team as it avenged an earlier-season loss to Luther College with an easy 70-59 victory.

The Duhawks (18-4, 11-2 A-R-C) suffered their first loss in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play at the hands of the Norse (12-11, 7-7 A-R-C) back on Jan. 4. Luther won that game in Decorah 68-62 behind a solid defensive effort that saw the Duhawks shoot one of their lowest percentages of the season. This time around, it was the Loras defense that stole the show.

Loras smothered the Norse from the jump and never once made things easy on their opponents at their offensive end. Luther coughed the ball up 36 times, marking the most turnovers by a Loras opponent this season. As a result, the Duhawks came away with 23 steals, easily clearing a new season-high for the team.

The Duhawks trailed 8-4 in the opening minutes of the first quarter, which was not the start they were hoping to get off to, seeing how the last game with the Norse played out. That early deficit quickly turned into an extraordinary 24-0 run that was made possible by the Loras defense.

The Norse were held without a point for nearly 10 whole minutes as their first basket since their 8-4 lead came with seven minutes left to play in the second quarter. During that span, the Norse committed 11 turnovers and went from leading by four to trailing by 20.

Despite all the turnovers and empty possessions, the Norse shot above their season average from the field with a 16-for-37 (43.2%) clip, highlighting how impactful the Duhawk defense was on the game flow.

Defense turned into offense on multiple occasions for the Duhawks as they totaled 44 points off turnovers and 23 points in transition for the game. Those easy fast-break buckets helped the Duhawks finish 29-for-63 (46.0%) from their field while they also took care of business at the free throw line, shooting 19-for-21 (90.5%) total for the game.

Junior guard Sami Martin led the way scoring-wise for the Duhawks as she totaled a career-high 29 points after nearly outscoring the Norse all on her own in the first half. Martin finished 12-for-19 from the field while adding three steals, three rebounds, and two assists to her line.

Martin was one of five Duhawks, along with Cierra Bachmann, Madison Fleckenstein, Daniella Jarrell, and Silvana Scarsella, who all came away with three steals in the game.

Senior guard Madison Haslow joined Martin in double figures and notched a season-high 15 points by way of knocking down pair of three-pointers and going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Bachmann also finished in double figures with 12 points.

Loras hits the floor again on Saturday, Feb. 11 when it hosts Nebraska Wesleyan University at Lillis Court at 2 P.M.