MILWAUKEE - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team played a very good Calvin College tough most of the way in an 85-60 loss on day one of the Paul F. Knueppel Classic hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College on Friday.

Calvin, which finished 30-1 and made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Championships last season, jumped out to an early 19-8 lead after the first quarter thanks to a pressing defense that forced 11 MLC turnovers.

The Knights fought back with a great second period, however. MLC turned the ball over only three times in the second quarter, and took advantage of its chances at the basket. The Knights scored 28 points in the quarter, and went into halftime with a 36-28 lead thanks to a 22-2 run to end the half.

Calvin would take control of the game in the third quarter thanks to a 21-2 run to open the half, and held off any MLC attempts at cutting into the deficit the rest of the way on the way to the win.

MLC finished the game with 27 turnovers, and allowed 26 Calvin points off those miscues. Calvin also out-scored the Knights from beyond the arc, making nine of 27 attempts compared to only three makes for MLC.

Grace Schultz led MLC with 13 points. Faith Schroeder added 12 points, while Jade St. Germaine grabbed a team-high ten rebounds.

The Knights fell to 0-2 on the season in defeat, while Calvin improved to 3-0 following the win.

MLC will return to action at WLC tomorrow (Saturday, November 21) when it plays Finlandia in a game scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m.