WAVERLY, Iowa — The Wartburg College women rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit against Elmhurst (Ill.) College to take a late lead, but couldn't hold it in a 65-62 loss Wednesday night in Levick Arena.
Guard Bobbi Burrows, a sophomore from Bondurant, misfired on a desperation three-point bank shot at the buzzer as the Knights (5-3) went 0-for-13 from behind the arc for the game, while the Bluejays (8-2) hit 10 of 22.
Alyssa Sager, the junior forward from Albert Lea, Minn., turned in a gritty performance for the Knights, scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while junior guard Holly Hallstead from Hudson helped key the comeback by scoring nine of her 11 points in the second half.
The Knights, though, couldn't take advantage of numerous opportunities at the free-throw line, converting only 10 of 19 for the game, and missed out on three conventional three-play chances.
Wartburg, which was coming off a 10-day layoff during finals week, looked rusty in the first half, scoring only six points in the opening eight minutes and digging a 34-19 hole with 2:52 remaining before the break.
The Knights turned up the defense at that point, swarming the ball and cutting the margin to 34-25, before trailing 37-26 at intermission. Elmhurst was paced by reserve guard Whitney Shaffer who knocked down three treys, including two from NBA range, as its bench contributed 18 points.
After Elmhurst guard Katie Swanson nailed a three to open the second half, giving the Bluejays a 40-26 lead, the Knights roared back behind Sager, Hallstead and Allison Emrich, the junior center from Vinton who had four points (and eight for the game).
The Knights went on a 27-8 run to take their largest lead, 53-48, with 7:20 left. With their outside shots failing to fall, the Knights went inside to score 26 points in the paint (compared to Elmhurst's four) during the second half and had 15 points off turnovers against two for Elmhurst.
The lead would change hands four times until Elmhurst guard Karen Senette hit a jumper with 46 seconds left to give the Bluejays the lead for good, 61-60. She added four clutch free throws the rest of the way, while Sager tallied a layup. Senette led Elmhurst with 16, while Shaffer had 14.
Wartburg heads to California for games Dec. 21-22 against LaVerne and Cal Lutheran, respectively. They return to Levick for a Monday, Dec. 30, contest against Monmouth (Ill). at 6 p.m.
Wartburg Circuit Recap
