Third quarter surge carries Pride to runaway victory over Cardinal Stritch

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Following a full seven day layoff from their last game action, the Clarke University women's basketblal team used strong first and third quarters to carry them to a 68-47 win over Cardinal Stritch University on Wednesday night.

CU outscored the Wolves 15-5 in the first quarter and 20-9 in the third quarter to be able to build their lead to 23 at its most in the fourth quarter as they opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run over the first 5:04 of the period.

"Anytime you win by double digits, it's something to be excited about," head coach Courtney Boyd said. "There are a few things we can clean up but it's early and that's what non-conference games are for, to get the details sorted out."

Taylor Haase was a force in the post, leading all scorers with 18 points on 7-9 (77.7%) shooting from the field while adding three rebounds on the night. Haase and Nicole McDermott were the same one-two punch for the Pride that they had been through the first two games as McDermott added 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Senior guard Skylar Culbertson had a strong night statistically with an eight-point, 12-rebound performance as she led all players in the game with those 12 rebounds coming up just one bucket shy of a double-double while adding four assists on the night.

The two-point shot was one of the keys to victory for Clarke as the three pointers weren't falling for CU as they went 3-for-18 as a team compared to CSU's 9-for-30 but the Wolves went 7-for-28 from two as the Pride went 20-for-38 from inside the thre-point arc.

"This game made us better and the adjustments will benefit us going into the weekend," Boyd said.

Clarke women's basketball will take a trip back towards the Chicagoland area for their nextg game as they'll face Governors State University this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CT.