DECORAH, Iowa – The Loras College women's basketball team evened its conference record with a dominant 92-67 win over Luther College on Wednesday evening.

The Duhawks scored on their first six possessions of the contest to hold an early 14-2 lead over the Norse. Loras (6-9, 3-3 A-R-C) extended its lead to as many as 14 in the opening quarter following a layup by Lexi Beier with 5:11 left to play. The Purple and Gold went into the second quarter with a nine-point advantage (23-14) over the home team.

Luther (12-4, 5-2) cut the deficit to five points with a pair of baskets from Katie Hardtke to start the second quarter, but the Duhawks responded with six straight points to put themselves back in front. Loras closed out the final 3:16 of the first half on 6-2 run to head into the locker room with a comfortable 47-28 lead.

The Purple and Gold outscored the Norse 45-39 in the second half, extending their lead to 32 multiple times throughout the fourth quarter. The Duhawks handed Luther just its second American Rivers Conference loss with the decisive victory this evening.

Claire Wagner paced the Duhawks, finishing with 30 points after shooting 13-of-16 from the field. Silvana Scarsella added in 18 points on the night, while Emerson Whittenbaugh rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points. As a team, Loras shot 52.9 percent (36-of-68) from the floor and 80.0 percent (12-of-15) from the foul line.

Haylie Strum led the way for the Norse with 15 points and six assists. Kate Hosking, Kailey Jones and Natalie Beaver chipped in 13 points apiece, while Jones and Beaver also added eight boards each to their respective stat lines. Luther shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the field and just 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three.

Up Next: The Duhawks wrap up their three-game road trip against the Simpson College Storm on Saturday, Jan. 18. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Cowles Fieldhouse.