Women's Basketball Grabs First A-R-C Win
Jan 11, 2020
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque women’s basketball team got off to a slow start but stormed back to beat Buena Vista, 76-63, for the Spartans first conference win of the season.
The Beavers came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, racing out to a 15-2 lead over the first 5:25. However, the Spartans did not take long to make their push, scoring the last eight points of the first quarter, capped by a Tabira Thomas layup at the buzzer. After sitting within one possession for the first couple minutes of the second quarter, they evened it up for the first time since 0-0 at 21-21 with 5:49 to play in the half. UD would grab their first lead of the game with a Kennedy Litvinoff three-pointer with 3:25 remaining. The two teams would trade leads for the rest of the half and would come to halftime squared at 29 all.
After the fifth tie of the game came two minutes into the second half, the Spartans took it to another level, going on a 17-1 run to vault ahead 50-34. The Beavers cut it to 12 by the end of the third and got within seven with 5:19 remaining in the game but the Spartans held them off from getting any closer to clinch their first A-R-C victory of the season.
Tabria Thomas paced the Spartans with 16 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and nabbed four steals. Alli Bailey only missed one shot from the field on her way to an 11 point effort. Lauren Griffith and Morgan Meerstein each finished with 10 points of their own. All 10 of Meerstein’s points came in the 28 point second quarter for the Spartans.
A key difference in the game was the bench play, the Spartans bench outscored the Beavers bench, 24-2. UD also made a living in the paint, scoring 44 points in the paint.
The Spartans close out their three game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m. when they host Central College.
