LINCOLN, Neb. – Luther College pulled away in the 4^th quarter to defeat the Nebraska Wesleyan women's basketball team 90-72 in Iowa Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Snyder Arena.
 
For the second straight IIAC game, the Prairie Wolves led at halftime but ran out of gas late in the game.
 
NWU held a 39-38 advantage at halftime as Audra Thramer nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Prairie Wolves to the locker room with momentum.
 
Luther's hot shooting from the field really took over in the 3^rd quarter as the Norse made 8-13 from the field for 61.5 percent.  NWU was not far off making 8-15 as the teams combined for 48 points in the third period with the Norse ending the quarter up by five.
 
The Prairie Wolves went cold from the field in the 4^th quarter shooting just 4-17 as the Norse were able to pull away. 
 
A 3-pointer from Ann Schulte cut the lead to 67-66 with just under one minute gone in the 4^th quarter.  NWU stayed within one point on a layup from Macy Gustafson at 69-68.  From there, the Prairie Wolves made only one field goal the final eight minutes of the game.
 
The full court pressure defense from the Prairie Wolves forced Luther into 33 turnovers, but the hot shooting by the Norse still allowed them to score 90 points in the game.  Luther ended at 54.3 percent from the field for the game.
 
Free throws were the biggest difference in the game as Luther made 32-36 at the charity stripe, compared to 11-19 for the Prairie Wolves.  NWU was whistled for 31 total fouls.
 
Claire Marburger went a perfect 20-20 at the free throw line and finished with a monster double-double of 36 points and 15 rebounds to lead Luther.
 
For Nebraska Wesleyan, sophomore guard Caitlin Navratil had another big offensive game scoring 20 points with three assists and four steals.  The only other player in double figures was Audra Thramer with 12 points, making 3-7 from 3-point range.