DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team wrapped up their final home game of the regular season against the Coe College Kohawks on Wednesday night. With big conference standing implications on the line, the game did not disappoint. An extra five minutes of overtime was needed to determine a winner as the Spartans lost 71-70.

At the end of the first quarter the Spartans trailed by one possession 14-12. Freshman, Samantha McDonald provided a spark off the bench as she scored five of her 11 points in the opening quarter. Both teams continued to trade buckets in the second quarter as neither team led by more than five points throughout the first half. Entering halftime, the Spartans were only down one point 29-28. 

Coming out of the break, the Spartans cranked it up offensively and shot a blistering 52% from the floor in the third quarter. Halfway through the third the Spartans trailed 34-33, but a made jumper from Tabria Thomas fueled a 9-0 run as the Spartans stormed ahead 42-34. During the run Thomas scored six of her team high 22 points. The Spartans extended their largest lead of the game to 13 but a late spark by Coe cut the lead to single digits 51-43 at the end of the quarter. 

In the fourth, the Spartans saw their lead dwindle down to one (62-61) as the Kohawks shot 72% in the quarter. With 1:35 left in the game, a driving layup from Morgan Hawkins put the Spartans back up by three with almost a minute remaining. On the Kowhawks ensuing possessions, Caydee Kirkham made back-to-back layups lifting the Kohawks ahead 65-64 with nine seconds left. After a timeout by the Spartans, Hawkins executed a drive to the rim and was fouled with one second left with a chance to give the Spartans the lead. Hawkins missed the first free throw but hit the second to force overtime.

In overtime, neither team shot the ball well from the floor as both the Spartans and Kohawks made one field goal a piece. The score was all knotted at 68-68 after Isabella Tierney hit her second three of the game. With 1:07 remaining the Spartans regained the lead 70-68 after Thomas sank a pair of free throws. However, that was the last of the scoring for the Spartans as Coe proceeded to make three free throws down the stretch. Hawkins had one last chance to send the Spartans away with a victory but a three bounced off the rim as time expired. 

Thomas paced the Spartans attack as she finished with 22 points on 8-15 attempts. McDonald ended the night with 11 points while Tierney, Hawkins, and Karsen Kershner scored nine points each. Hawkins grabbed eight of the Spartans 27 rebounds. Defensively the Spartans forced 23 turnovers which resulted in 32 points. 

Up Next
The Spartans are now 15-9 overall and 9-6 in conference play with one game remaining at cross-town rival the Duhakws of Loras College. The game is scheduled to start on Saturday, February 17th at 2:00 p.m. Currently the Spartans sit fourth in the rankings and will face the fifth seed Simpson College Storm in the first round of the A-R-C Tournament next week. 

A-R-C Standings

Wartburg(1) | C | No. 7/8	15-0	1.000	22-2	.917	11-1	8-0	3-1	W11
Loras(2) | No. 22/17	13-2	.867	21-3	.875	11-2	8-1	2-0	W5
Coe(3)	11-4	.733	20-4	.833	8-1	10-3	2-0	W5
Dubuque(4)	9-6	.600	15-9	.625	5-5	7-3	3-1	L1
Simpson(5)	9-7	.562	14-11	.560	6-3	5-4	3-4	W1
Central	5-10	.333	11-13	.458	2-6	7-6	2-1	W1
Luther	5-10	.333	10-14	.417	4-7	6-5	0-2	L4
Buena Vista	1-14	.067	2-20	.091	0-10	2-10	0-0	L7
Nebraska Wesleyan