The Buena Vista women's basketball team split a pair of road games last week, and now the team will return home tonight to host Luther College in a 6:00pm tip-off inside of Siebens Fieldhouse.

BVU moved up in the standings following a thrilling overtime road win at Central College last Wednesday night before dropping a tough 85-75 match-up at Wartburg on Saturday in which the Knights scored the game's final 13 points.

Two of the Beavers' last three games have gone into overtime, including the last time they were on their home court and fell to the University of Dubuque, 82-73. 

Luther will take the court looking to snap its current two-game losing skid, following an 11-game win streak that pushed the Norse into a top-25 national ranking.

The Norse are leading the conference in scoring since league play began, averaging 72.5ppg.  Despite ranking last in field goal percentage, the team is getting a full slate of second-chance points, ranking second behind BVU in offensive rebounds per contest (16.17).

The two teams are first and second, respectively, in overall rebounding.

Tonight's match-up could come down to who controls the ball more effectively.  The Norse rank second in the IIAC in assist/turnover ratio (0.97), while both teams sit in the middle of the pack in steals.  They are also both tied for third in assists per game (14.00).

Each team won on its home court in last season's match-ups which could prove key tonight as well.  In its last three meetings against the Norse inside of Siebens Fieldhouse, the Beavers are averaging 90.0ppg and have outscored Luther by an average of 16.0ppg.

The Norse currently have two players ranked in the top-10 in the IIAC in scoring, while BVU has a pair in the top-13.  Moran Lonning leads Luther and is third among conference players, averaging 14.3ppg.  Lexi Fisher leads BVU and is 12th in the league (12.8ppg).

A win for BVU would not only help move them up yet again in the standings, it would also give head coach Janet Berry her 350th career victory.

Links to live stats and video are both available on the bvuathletics.com homepage.  A local radio broadcast will also be available on 97.5FM KBVU.

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