A late second-half rally that brought the score within five came up short for the Central College women's basketball team as the Dutch dropped a 73-61 decision to Loras College Saturday.

The Duhawks held a 42-34 advantage at halftime and extended their lead to as much as 14 points in the second half before Central responded with a 9-0 run to close the gap to 64-59. But with less than 5 minutes remaining, the Dutch wouldn't get any closer.

"We had a nice run but we can't have mistakes when we've got to make up six points in 2 minutes," coach Jerry Nikkel said. "We need to at least give ourselves a shot at the basket instead of turning the ball over. Part of it is that we haven't had much experience in those situations and we just need to learn to handle it better."

But Nikkel was pleased with the effort he saw on the court, especially as Central (4-14, 1-8 conference) was in its fourth game in eight days.

"It's pretty hard to stay fresh but we played harder today," Nikkel said. "I liked our intensity on both offense and defense. The effort was there"

Forward Haley Brillhart recorded her ninth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, going 2-for-2 behind the arc. Forward Nicole Strasko added 14 points, her third consecutive game in double digits, and collected seven boards. Guard Alyssa Schwartz  chipped in nine points off the bench.

Loras (9-9, 5-4 conference) held a 47-34 rebounding edge over the Dutch and limited Central to 30 percent shooting from the floor, 21 percent in the second half.          

Central is on the road next week, tackling Wartburg College (15-3, 6-3 conference) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Waverly before facing Coe College (15-2, 8-1 conference) at 2 p.m. next Saturday in Cedar Rapids. Coe scored a 74-69 win over Wartburg Saturday.

"The Iowa Conference is topsy-turvy right now," Nikkel said. "Everything will be a tough show."