WOMEN FOUR-PEAT AS CHAMPIONS

ANNIKA WALL, TRUMPET MANAGING EDITOR

The No. 8 Wartburg Women’s Basketball team secured the program’s fourth-straight regular season conference title with a commanding 88-47 win over the University of Dubuque Saturday, Feb. 22. This is the first four-peat in school history.

The win pushes the Knights to a 14-2 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) record. The Knights secured the top seed in the conference tournament, which will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Wartburg has won its last eight games, all in A-R-C action.

The Knights scored the first bucket of the game with a Payton Draper ’21 layup off a Tori Hazard ’21 assist. After the Spartans countered with a three-pointer, Wartburg scored 15 unanswered points to establish the eventual victory. The Knights held Dubuque to eight points in the first and second quarters and held a 42-16 advantage going into the locker room.

Dubuque got the ball to start the second half, but an Emma Gerdes ’20 steal propelled the Knights to the first basket of the second half, an Alecia Kimball ’20 threepointer off an Ally Conrad ’21 assist. Wartburg’s scoring barrage continued in the third and fourth quarters, as Wartburg scored 28 points in the third and 18 in the fourth.

The Knights outscored the Spartans in every quarter and prevented all Spartans from reaching double-digit scoring. Bailey Brown ’22 led the Knights in total points with 18. Kaitlyn Volesky ’21 and Macy Harris ’23 also came off the bench to score 15 and 14 points, respectively. Gerdes notched a teamhigh seven assists, while Hazard had a team-best eight rebounds.

Overall, Wartburg notched 28 assists for the second-best number of the season and 14 steals. As the top seed of the A-R-C tournament, Wartburg will receive a first-round bye. The Knights will host the winner of the No. 4/5 seed matchup on Thursday in Levick Arena.