WAVERLY, Iowa – No. 24 Wartburg women's basketball was defeated by No. 19 Loras 72-61 in the American Rivers Conference Tournament final on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Knights move to 21-6 overall this season.
 
Game Summary

• First Quarter
  • Macy Harris and Jaedon Murphy each started the game with a layup and then Sara Faber connected on a three to put Wartburg up 7-3 with 8:13 left in the first quarter
  • Loras took its first lead just under six minutes into the quarter after a layup made the score 11-10
  • A Britney Young three ball tied the game at 14 and then a Natalie Bearbower three tied the game at 17 with one minute left in the quarter
  • Cierra Bachmann scored in the final seconds to give Loras a 19-17 lead after one
• Second Quarter
  • Lauren Woeste gave the Knights a 20-19 lead early in the second after three straight points
  • After back-and-forth scoring, a Murphy three pointer tied the game and then free throws from Faber and Murphy put the Knights up 25-23 with 5:21 remaining in the half
  • A Loras run gave the Duhawks a lead before Maggie Wilkins and Woeste each made a layup to retake the lead 31-28
  • Loras closed the half on a 5-1 run to lead 33-32 at halftime
• Third Quarter
  • Each team went 1/2 from the free throw line to start the second half and then Loras made back-to-back three pointers to take a 40-33 lead
  • Wartburg responded with three pointers from Harris and Young to cut the lead to 43-41 with 5:02 left in the third
  • Loras scored the next eight points to a 51-41 lead
  • The Loras lead grew to as many as 13, but free throws from Wilkins and Faber cut the lead to 58-48, but Loras scored again before the quarter ended to make it 60-48 after three quarters
• Fourth Quarter
  • Young made a three to start the final quarter and a Taylor Runchey layup brought the lead down to nine
  • Loras scored the next six points to stretch the lead to 15 with 4:24 left to play
  • Faber made five free throws the next two possessions to get the lead down to 12 with 3:04 remaining
  • Loras controlled the final minutes and closed out a 72-61 win

 
Top Performers

• Murphy
  • 14 points
    • 3/7 FG
    • 1/3 3P
    • 7/10 FT
  • Four rebounds
  • One assist
  • One steal
• Faber
  • 12 points
    • 1/5 FG
    • 1/4 3P
    • 9/11 FT
  • Three rebounds
  • Three assists
  • One steal
  • One block
• Young
  • Nine points
    • 3/10 FG
    • 3/10 3P
  • Two assists
  • One rebound
  • One block

 
 
Notes/Streaks

• Loras has now defeated Wartburg in back-to-back matchups
  • Wartburg leads all-time series 61-29
  • Now 8-4 in A-R-C Tournament games against Loras
• Loras dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds
  • Total rebounds: Loras 33, Wartburg 23
• Wartburg finished with 20 turnovers
  • 14 in the first half
• There were 11 lead changes and six ties throughout the game
• Wartburg shooting percentage:
  • 42.1% FG
  • 30.4% 3P
  • 75.9% FT

 
The Knights will now await the NCAA Division III Selection Show on Monday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m to see if they have earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.