DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Nebraska Wesleyan women's basketball team overcame a three-point halftime deficit to rally back and earn their first conference win of the season as the Prairie Wolves defeated Loras College 81-78 on Wednesday night (Jan. 10) on Lillis Court in Dubuque, Iowa.
 
NWU records their first IIAC win under coach Sam Dixon as they also notch their 10^th victory of the year moving to 10-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play.  Loras falls to 9-6 and 1-5 in IIAC play.
 
Loras shot lights out in the first half making 64 percent of their field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes, but the Duhawks only outscored the Prairie Wolves by three points in the first half.  NWU kept in the game with their full court pressure and made a late run.  Loras led by seven with over a minute remaining but two layups, including one in the final seconds by Audra Thramer made the score 42-39 at the half.
 
The Prairie Wolves used a 10-0 run in the 3^rd quarter to take a seven point lead at the 5:47 mark with a 54-47 advantage.  Loras would pull within one point, but the Prairie Wolves answered and closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 63-55 after three quarters.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan would get up by as many as 11 points in the 4^th quarter and still led by 10 points with 1:36 left.
 
The Duhawks made a late charge and outscored the Prairie Wolves 9-2 to end the game, but NWU was able to hold on for the initial conference win of the year.
 
Senior guard Audra Thramer had the hot hand for the NWU women in the victory scoring a game-high 18 points.  Thramer was 5-7 from 3-point range and was one of three players to reach double figures in scoring.
 
Leading scorer Caitlin Navratil had a solid overall night with 12 points on 5-9 shooting to go along with eight assists and four steals.  The other player in double figures was Ann Schulte who scored 10 points to go along with a team-high five steals.
 
As a team the Prairie Wolves shot 49.2 percent from the field, making over 60 percent in the second half.  NWU was 16-26 from the floor in the final 20 minutes of the game.  The Prairie Wolves forced Loras into 21 turnovers, scoring 23 points off those turnovers.
 
Loras had five players score in double figures led by Lauren Stanich with 15 points.