WAVERLY, Iowa – No. 8/13 Wartburg women's basketball successfully defended its American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) championship after defeating Coe 61-55 in the A-R-C Tournament championship game on Saturday, Mar. 1. This is the second-straight season Wartburg has won both the regular season and conference tournament title.
With the win, Wartburg earns the A-R-C Automatic Bid to the Division III Championships beginning next week on Friday, Mar. 7.
Game Summary
- First Half
- First Quarter
- Jaedon Murphy scored the first four points of the game to give Wartburg a 4-0 lead after the first minute and a half
- Following another Murphy score, Coe made back-to-back baskets to take a 7-6 lead minutes later
- A Sara Faber driving layup put Wartburg back ahead 8-7 seconds later
- Lauren Golinghorst scored five of the next seven Wartburg points to keep the Knights in front 15-12 with 2:40 left in the quarter
- Coe outscored Wartburg 6-3 in the final two minutes to tie the game at 18-18 after one quarter
- Britney Young's three pointer during the run put her at 1,000 career points
- Second Quarter
- Young scored the first points of the second quarter after two minutes of scoreless play
- Each side traded baskets over the next three minutes to keep Wartburg in front 25-24 with 5:02 left in the half
- Grace Hennessy and Murphy each scored for Wartburg in the final five minutes of the half, but Coe outscored the Knights 10-3 to take a 34-28 lead into halftime
- Second Half
- Third Quarter
- Coe scored the first two baskets out of the break to stretch its lead to 38-28 with 9:11 left in the third quarter
- Wartburg came storming back with a 13-2 run that put Wartburg back in front lead to 41-40 with 4:13 remaining in the third
- Woeste scored six of Wartburg's 13 points during the run, while Golinghorst, Hennessy and Murphy each added a score
- The Kohawks kept battling back as they closed the third quarter outscoring Wartburg 8-4 to take a 48-45 lead into the final quarter
- Fourth Quarter
- Murphy began the fourth quarter with back-to-back scores in the paint to give Wartburg a 49-48 lead after just over two minutes of play
- Woeste and Young each assisted one of the baskets
- A minute later, Faber found Young open for three to put Wartburg ahead 52-48 with 6:31 left to play
- Coe answered with a three pointer to cut the Wartburg lead to one, but on the other end, Golinghorst was able to track down a save from Hennessy and then knock down a three to keep Wartburg in front 55-51 with under five minutes left
- A Faber drive and score put the Knights ahead by six with 4:46 to play, but Coe was able to score the next two baskets to make it a 57-55 lead for Wartburg with 57 seconds to play
- Woeste went to the line and made two clutch free throws and then following defensive stops, she went back to line two more times and made four more total free throws to cement a 61-55 Wartburg win
Top Performers
Notes/Streaks
- Back-to-back A-R-C Tournament champions
- Eighth title in program history
- Wartburg is 54-20 all-time against Coe
- Have now won nine in a row against the Kohawks
- 2-1 in A-R-C Tournament matchups
- Wartburg held Coe below 60 points in all three meetings this season
- With eight points today, Britney Young surpassed 1,000 career points
- 21st player in program history to reach this milestone
- Fifth season with 25+ wins under Amsberry
- Sixth time in program history
- Hennessy tied her career high in blocks with three
- Fifth game this season with three blocks
- Career high in steals for Golinghorst
- Back-to-back gams with three steals for Woeste
Next Time Out
The Knights will now await Monday's selection show to find out their NCAA Tournament opponent and location. The selection show is at 1:30 p.m. on the NCAA's website (NCAA.com).
