STORM LAKE, Iowa - (2/1/23) Wednesday evening the University of Dubuque women's basketball hit the road once again as they traveled to Buena Vista University home of the Beavers. In a highly contested game the Spartans entered the half up by two before the offense caught fire exploding for 27 points in the third to pull out a 72-58 victory. 

In the first quarter, Maddie Monge got the offense rolling as she scored seven of the first 10 points for the Spartans as she hit back-to-back threes and connected on a free throw to give the Spartans the early advantage (10-5). Kathleen Mathias also contributed six points in the quarter off two layups and pair of free throws to extend the led to 21-15 at the end of the first.

The Spartans were held in check during the second quarter as they were limited to just eight points. During the Spartans scoring drought, the Beavers went on an 8-0 over the course of a few minutes to cut the Spartan led to two (27-25). At the end of the second quarter, the Spartans maintained a 29-27 led entering halftime. 

Two minutes into the third, the Beavers captured their first lead of the game at 32-31. The Spartans quickly took the led back off a three from Isabella Tierney. From then on, the Spartans outscored the Beavers 23-10 to end the third taking a convincing 14 point lead into the fourth (56-42). Lauren Livingston helped ignite a spark for the Spartans as she scored eight points in the quarter. The Spartans shot 55% (11-20) in the third and 40% (2-5) from downtown. 

During the final quarter of play, the Spartans stretched out their largest lead of the game to 18 (62-44). The Beavers chipped away at the lead but could never get within single digits. The Spartans went on to capture the road win with a final score of 72-58.

The Spartans had a balanced scoring attack as they had four players in double figures. Isabella Tierney led all scorers with 18 and hauled in eight rebounds followed by another double-double from Morgan Hawkins with 14 points and 15 boards. Lauren Livingston added 11 points and Kathleen Mathias finished the night with 10. Both teams shot near 40% from the field. The Spartans won the points in the paint battle by a 16 point margin and converted 13 points off turnovers while the Beavers only had two. 

The Spartans now move to 13-8 overall and 7-5 in A-R-C play.

Up Next
The Spartans will have the weekend off as they prepare for another road test in Cedar Rapids as they face the Kohawks of Coe College. This pivotal matchup will feature both teams battling for top seeds in the conference. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8th at 5:30 p.m. inside Kohawk Arena.