The Central women’s basketball team traveled to Decorah Tuesday evening for the program’s first conference tournament game since 2005. Despite a major comeback effort, the Dutch fell just short, 58-55.

Luther started the game hot, running out to an 18-4 lead in the game’s opening minutes. But a quick timeout allowed Central to get their feet back under them. By the time halftime rolled around, the Dutch had gotten the deficit down to 34-26.

Central opened the second half on a 9-0 run, and took their first lead of the game with 3:41 to go in the third. Luther took a 44-42 lead into the fourth, but Central again fought back. The Dutch took their final lead of the game at the 6:25 mark, but missed free throws and turnovers in the final minutes proved to be too much to overcome.

Kelsea Hurley led the Dutch with 20 points in the final game of her freshman campaign. Maci Gambell added 11, while Kendall Brown finished her career with a 10-point performance. The Dutch end their season with an overall record of 15-9, their most wins since the 2000-2001 season.