In a battle of two Top 15 teams Saturday afternoon, the No. 13 Central Methodist women fell 81-71 to No. 12 Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa. 

The loss snaps Central’s eight-game winning streak, and marks the first loss in conference play for CMU since Dec. 11. Central now stands at 17-4 and 7-4 in conference play, while the Pride improved to 20-2 and a perfect 11-0 in the Heart.

Trailing by just two points at the end of the first quarter, Central was outscored by Clarke 24-14 in the second quarter, trailing 44-32 at the halftime break. 

The Pride stretched their lead into the third and fourth quarters, before Central trimmed Clarke’s lead to as few as five points on a 3-point basket from senior Kedranea’ Addison with 1:36 to go in the game. 

However, Clarke would score the final five points of the contest to take an 81-71 victory over the Eagles. 

Of the eight players that saw action for Central, five players reached double figures.  Junior Daryna Bachkarova led the Eagles with 17 points on seven-of-15 shooting from the field, including three 3-point baskets. Senior Arleighshya McElroy followed with 16 points along with five rebounds and four assists. 

Junior Robin Beck nearly tallied a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes off the bench. The duo of freshman Leianya Massenat and Addison rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each. 

Both teams were nearly identical in shooting percentage from beyond the arc, as Central converted 42.3 percent of its attempts from downtown, compared to 41.7 percent for the Pride. 

Overall, Clarke was proved to be more efficient shooting from the floor overall, as they finished the afternoon shooting 45 percent while Central tallied just a 37.3 percent from the field. Clarke made 10 more trips to the free-throw line compared to CMU’s 15.

The Eagles just edged Clarke on the glass with 41 rebounds compared to 40 for the Pride. 

Central will look to get back on track today in Lamoni, Iowa to face Graceland at 5:30 p.m.