DUBUQUE, Iowa – The most successful season for the Nebraska Wesleyan women's basketball program in 16 years came to an end on Tuesday night as the Prairie Wolves fell 79-61 to Loras College in the first round of the IIAC Postseason Tournament in Dubuque, Iowa.
 
NWU, playing in their first ever conference tournament, has their season come to a close with a 13-13 overall record.  It marks the first time since 2001 that the Prairie Wolves have an overall record of .500 or above and just the ninth winning season in program history.
 
The 3^rd-seeded Duhawks (17-9) will move on to face the No. 2 seed Luther College on Thursday in the IIAC Tournament semifinals.
 
Loras proved to be too much to handle inside throughout the game as the Duhawks outscored NWU 42-21 in the paint.  The biggest reason was Duhawk center Lori Obendorf who had a huge game going over 1,000 career points.  Obendorf had 31 points and 15 rebounds in the game.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan forced Loras into 23 turnovers, but couldn't take advantage on the offensive end as they struggled shooting against the Duhawk zone defense.  NWU shot 32.3 percent as a team for the game, making 7-30 from 3-point range.
 
Freshman Caitlin Navratil did her best to keep the Prairie Wolves within striking distance all night long.  Navratil scored over half of the Prairie Wolves points as she closed the season with a season-high 31 points.  The 31-point performance was the highest single game scoring output this year for the Prairie Wolves.  Navratil finished the year with the second most points ever scored by a NWU freshman.
 
NWU trailed by over 20 points in the second half but made one last chance effort in the fourth quarter.  The Prairie Wolves got to within 14 points at 68-54 with just over four minutes left.  Loras scored seven unanswered points to end any threat and seal the victory.
 
Besides Navratil's 31 points, the Prairie Wolves had one other player score in double figures.  Addie Wetzel came off the bench to score 13 points with seven rebounds before fouling out.
 
The future looks bright for the Nebraska Wesleyan women's program as they lose just one player to graduation.  Senior Kylee Ashley played her final game in a Prairie Wolves uniform on Tuesday night.