DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team struggled down the stretch on open shots and fell short to the Central College Dutch 63-69. The Spartans fall to a tie for fourth in the A-R-C standings with a 5-4 mark.

UD's offense was dominated by Tabria Thomas who led all scorers with a game high 28 points in just 34 minutes and drew eight Dutch fouls. Morgan Hawkins added 14 points and a team high nine rebounds. Isabella Tierney finished with 12 points. Kathleen Mathias finished with six steals and with the effort became the all-time steals leader with 218 career steals, breaking the mark set by UD Hall of Famer Dana Kester (2000-2004 with 215 steals). She now owns the school records for steals in a game with 11, (at Simpson on 1/14/23 ) and career steals (218).

The Spartans shot an icy 3-22 from beyond the three point arc (13.6%) and sank 12-19 free throw attempts. The Dutch led for 38:53 of the game and the Spartans held the lead for just 22 seconds. Central led by as many as 14 points and shot nearly 50% from the field.

UD will continue their home stand when they host the league leading Wartburg College Knights (8-0 in A-R-C, 13-4 overall) on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Stoltz Sports Center. In the previous meeting in Waverly, the Spartans lost in overtime 72-78.