ROCHESTER, Minn.-- The No. 2/2 Wartburg women's basketball team fell 90-62 to No. 5/5 Bowdoin in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament Friday. This marked the first loss of the season for the Knights and the Polar Bears moved to 29-2.

Senior Katie Sommer (Cedar Rapids) led the Orange and Black with 16 points. Classmate Miranda Murphy (Alleman) followed with 12, sophomore Emma Gerdes (Cedar Falls) had 11, and senior Aryn Jones (Marion) rounded out the leading scorers with 10.

Murphy and senior Morgan Neuendorf (Plainfield) co-led the team with six rebounds each.

For her efforts, Sommer was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.

Click here for the weekend photo gallery.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS


Bowdoin opened the game on a 4-0 run and Neuendorf sliced the margin to one on her three-point play (jumper and made and one). The Polar Bears led 28-12 at the end of the first quarter and later 46-31 at halftime.

Wartburg opened the first two minutes of the second half on a 7-2 run to slice the margin to 10 (48-38) as Bowdoin called timeout. The Polar Bears responded with a 14-2 over the next three minutes to push the lead to 22 (62-40), and continued to lead by more than 20 points for the duration of the contest.

The Knights did hold the team advantage in blocks (3-0).

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE Waterloo Courier recap

Wartburg in the NCAA Tournament: (17-12)
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1989, First-round, L 74-93
Wartburg vs. Milliken, 1989, Regional Third Place, W 97-75
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1990, First-round, W 72-57
Wartburg vs. Buena Vista, 1990, Regional Finals, L 63-78
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1991, Regionals, L 54-78
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Stout, 1992, Regionals, W 90-72
Wartburg vs. St. Benedict, 1992, Sectional Semifinals, W 74-64
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1992, Sectional Finals, L 61-70
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 1993, Regionals, W 75-60
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Whitewater, 1993, Sectional Semifinals, W 83-77
Wartburg vs. Central, 1993, Sectional Finals, L 60-62
Wartburg vs. Aurora, 1994, First-round, L 57-61
Wartburg vs. St. Thomas, 1999, First-round, L 41-67
Wartburg vs. Chapman, 2001, First-round, W 86-78
Wartburg vs. Neb. Wesleyan, 2001, Second-round, W 85-71
Wartburg vs. Fontbonne, 2001, Sectional Semifinals, W 82-78
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 2001, Sectional Finals, L 71-83
Wartburg vs. Carleton, 2002, First-round, L 61-71
Wartburg vs. Wisconsin Lutheran, 2016, First-round, W, 65-49
Wartburg vs. #11/16 UW-Oshkosh, 2016, Second-round, W 66-56
Wartburg vs. #8/9 St. Thomas, 2016, Sweet Sixteen, W 70-66
Wartburg vs. #5/6 UT-Tyler, 2016, Elite Eight, W 80-74
Wartburg vs. #7/7 Tufts, 2016 Final Four, L 50-63
Wartburg vs. Chicago, 2017 First-round, L 63-67
Wartburg vs. Webster, 2018 First-round, W 86-45
Wartburg vs. #12/13 George Fox, 2018, Second-round, W 82-58
Wartburg vs. #7/11 Trine, 2018, Sweet Sixteen, W, 78-54
Wartburg vs. East Texas Baptist, 2018, Elite Eight, W 65-61
Wartburg vs. No. 5/5 Bowdoin, 2018, Final Four, L 62-90