DECORAH, Iowa.  – The Luther College women's basketball team was looking to go out with a bang in its final home game of the 2022 calendar year. The Norse played host to UW-Stevens Point in their final home game before the holiday break. Sadly, Christmas did not come early for Luther, as the team fell to 6-3 on the season and remain 2-1 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play with a 63-52 loss to the visiting Pointers. 

BY THE NUMBERS
The Norse offense was running on all cylinders to open the game, as they sprinted out to a 10-4 lead on the hot shooting of Kailey Jones (Avoca, Iowa / AHSTW). The sophomore forward was unstoppable through the first five minutes of play, accounting for seven of Luther's 10 points. However, the Pointers eventually put a run of their own together, whittling the lead to 14-11 by the end of the first quarter. UW-Stevens Point would then proceed to make it 14-13 on its very first possession of the second half, before layups from Chelin Isaacson (Superior, Colo. / Monarch) and Jones regained a five point cushion at 18-15 for Luther. 

The Pointers responded by going on a six-point run of their own, taking their first lead of the night at 19-18. From there, the tides seemingly turned, as UW-Stevens Point continued to control the pace of play for most of the second half, pushing its lead to 27-21 by the three minute mark. The Norse were unable to whittle down the deficit in the waning minutes, as the Pointers took a 33-21 lead into the locker room at half. 

Luther's defense went into overdrive at the start of the third quarter, as the Norse held UW-Stevens Point from scoring for three consecutive offensive possessions, allowing the offense to cut the lead to 33-25. In fact, Luther held the Pointers scoreless for 5:04, surrendering the first UW-Stevens Point points at 4:56 in the third quarter. Once the Pointers offense got going, though, it was hard to stop, as the visitors cruised out to a 48-39 lead entering the fourth and final quarter of play. 

Despite the Norse best efforts, UW-Stevens Point continued to make shots in the fourth quarter, but Luther managed to keep within nine of the Pointers. The Norse were unable to capitalize on offensive chances, though, as they only scored just seven points on turnovers during the game compared to UW-Stevens Point's 23. Still, Jones and Kauls continued to pound the paint, cutting the lead to 52-45 with 6:44 remaining in the fourth. The Norse, though, were never able to make up the full 12 point deficit from the second quarter, as the team fell by final score of 63-52. 

TOP NORSE

• Kailey Jones (Avoca, Iowa / AHSTW) recorded her second double-digit point scoring game this season, tallying a team-leading 16 points and 10 rebounds during the game. The sophomore additionally was near perfect in terms of shooting, as she was 7-8 from the floor, including a 2-2 clip from three-point range. 
• Lizzie Kauls (North Oaks, Minn. / Mounds View) added 14 points, seven rebounds, one block and a steal  in the loss.
• Jordan Rubie (Winona, Minn. / Cotter) added a season-high four assists in Wednesday's game. =

UP NEXT
The Norse will return to action on Saturday, December 10, as they travel for their final A-R-C contest of the first semester. Luther will face Buena Vista in Storm Lake, Iowa on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT.