DECORAH, Iowa  – The Luther College women's basketball team is used to playing in tight games in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play. Wednesday evening in the Regents Center was no different. Despite struggling in the first half, the Norse put together quite the comeback in Decorah, Iowa, finding themselves within two possessions of victory against Coe College. Luther was unable to complete the comeback, however, falling to the visitors by final score of 65-55. With the loss, the Norse are now 11-8 overall and 6-4 in A-R-C play. 

BY THE NUMBERS
Things were rolling for Luther early, as the team connected on its opening three shots for the early 8-5 lead. However, the Norse struggled with the Kohawks full court press late in the first quarter, resulting in a 17-8 lead with 4:59 to go. Luther managed to whittled the Coe lead to 22-16 by the end of the first, thanks to baskets from Megan Miller (Urbandale, Iowa / Des Moines Christian) and free throws by Jordan Rubie (Winona, Minn. / Cotter), but the Coe defense continued to give the Norse fits early in the second quarter. Luther managed to score just two points against the Kohawks in the opening five minutes, and didn't score for nearly four full minutes before Kailey Jones (Avoca, Iowa / AHSTW) free throws at the 4:36 mark. 

The Norse made good defense plays of their own, but they could not take advantage of Coe turnovers or missed shots. Luther also struggled to stop Kohawk point guard Caydee Kirkham. The first year scored 21 of Coe's first half points and accounted for well over 50% of the team's offense. This nearly singlehandedly resulted in the 39-27 deficit the Norse found themselves in after the first half. 

Unfortunately for Luther, the team's turnover and shooting struggles lingered into the third quarter, as the Kohawks opened the second half with a 4-0 run. An early timeout by head coach Amanda Bailey seemed to jump start the Norse, both offensively and defensively. Thanks to stingy defense and superb play on offense, Luther ended the third quarter on a 10-0 run, cutting the Coe lead to 49-41. Thanks to tenacious play and baskets from Miller, Rubie and Grace Prokosh (Oakdale, Minn. / Hill-Murray), the Norse eventually whittled the lead to 59-55 with two minutes to go. Unfortunately, that was the closest Luther would get to catching the Kohawks. Forced to foul in the closing seconds, Coe went 4-6 from the free throw line to cement its 65-55 win. 

TOP NORSE 

• Kailey Jones (Avoca, Iowa / AHSTW) led the team in scoring and rebounds Wednesday evening, tallying 11 points on 4-9 shooting, with six rebounds. 
• Kate Hosking (Slinger, Wis. / Slinger) added 10 points in the loss, while Grace Prokosh (Oakdale, Minn. / Hill-Murray) added six rebounds. 

UP NEXT
Luther will be back in action on Saturday, January 28, as the Norse are set to host Buena Vista in their final home game of January. Tip off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Decorah, Iowa.