The Coe women’s basketball team just couldn’t seem to hold onto a lead during its Iowa Conference game against Wartburg Wednesday night at Eby Fieldhouse.

Wartburg triumphed 73-66, though the Kohawks (14-10, 9-4) led 33-32 against the Knights (10-14, 4-9) at halftime.

The teams were within three points of each other for the first six minutes of the second half, but after a three-point play by Bobbie Burrows the Knights started to pull away.

But this game was about more than the score.

The stands were filled with pink during Coe’s Think Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Night and the team showed its spirit by wearing pink Coaches vs. Cancer shirts while they warmed up.

The team was “playing for something bigger than this game and ourselves,” according to Megan Hayes. She said the team wanted to “play selflessly, and we work on that every day but this is just a good reminder.”

Coach Randi Peterson said the team wanted to honor those who have fought cancer as well as fundraise for the cause.

“Everybody in this gym knows somebody that’s been affected by cancer in some way,” she said.

Hayes was disappointed with the outcome of the game, but said team morale was high looking forward to their next game. “We just didn’t come to play like we know we can play,” she said.

Peterson echoed that sentiment. “Today we just didn’t play together well. Wartburg did a great job taking away some of our strengths and we just didn’t really make adjustments out of it,” she said.

“We want to go even farther,” Hayes said.  “We need to bounce back from tonight.”

Peterson said the team needs to take it each day at a time preparing to face a tough game against Loras on Saturday.

“It’s never fun to lose at home and definitely not one of your last two games, so hopefully they have some resolve in them because we’re going to need it,” she said.

Hayes put up 19 points for the Kohawks and Mary Halvorson added another 15. Kailey Kladivo was the top scorer for the Knights with 17 points, followed by Burrows with 16.

WARTBURG (73): Kladivo, Kailey 5-9 7-8 17; Burrows, Bobbi 3-10 8-8 16; Hallstead, Holly 3-7 7-8 13; Sager, Alyssa 3-8 2-2 8; Wedeking, Chelsey 1-10 4-4 7; Brown, Mary 2-5 1-1 6; Emrich, Allison 2-4 0-0 4; Bilderback, Elisa 1-3 0-0 2; Eckberg, Emily 0-0 0-0 0; Peterson, Jamie 0-0 0-0 0; Mallen, Sarah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 29-31 73.

COE (66): Hayes, Megan 7-11 5-6 19; Halvorson, Mary 4-9 7-8 15; Breitbach, Hannah 2-8 4-4 9; Reed, Mackenzie 4-8 1-3 9; Wirth, Allie 1-3 4-5 6; Buckles, Lindsey 1-3 2-2 4; Stulken, Ashley 1-1 0-0 2; Hansche, Mickey 1-8 0-0 2; Lynch, Logan 0-0 0-0 0; Wheelwright, Brooke 0-2 0-0 0; Jipp, Lindsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 23-28 66.

Halftime--Coe 33, Wartburg 32. 3-point goals--Wartburg 4-17 (Burrows, Bobbi 2-5; Brown, Mary 1-4; Wedeking, Chelsey 1-6; Sager, Alyssa 0-1; Hallstead, Holly 0-1), Coe 1-12 (Breitbach, Hannah 1-5; Buckles, Lindsey 0-2; Hansche, Mickey 0-4; Wheelwright, Brooke 0-1). Fouled out--Wirth, Allie; Reed, Mackenzie. Rebounds--Wartburg 28 (Emrich, Allison 6), Coe 42 (Halvorson, Mary 11). Assists--Wartburg 10 (Burrows, Bobbi 4), Coe 13 (Breitbach, Hannah 4). Total fouls--Wartburg 21, Coe 25. A-648.