WAVERLY, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball struggled to find their shooting touch on Tuesday night in Waverly, Iowa, where they would ultimately fall to the Wartburg Knights in a non-conference match-up, 81-36.

The Wartburg pressure from the opening tip-off had the Spartans off balance as the Spartans struggled to get into a flow on offense and could not find the bottom of the basket until Jordan Fischer sank a three pointer 7:13 into the first quarter. The Spartan 21-3 deficit at the end of the first quarter and 36-11 deficit at halftime were just too much to overcome.

UD found a bit of a groove in the third quarter, connecting on 7-17 shots from the field in the quarter, while only turning the ball over twice and forcing the Knights into six miscues to play to an even 17-17 score for the quarter.

Alli Bailey came away as the leading scorer for the Spartans with 10 points on 4-7 field goals and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. 10 different Spartans scored at least two points against the Knights and UD connected on 5-6 free throws. 

The Spartans begin American Rivers Conference action on Saturday when the Central Dutch come to town for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.