NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team showed its grit in a 56-50 win over Minnesota Morris on Saturday.

The Knights dominated the game down low, winning the rebounding battle 57-39, with 22 of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass.

Faith Schroeder and Leah Nass each finished with 11 rebounds to lead the Knights, while Moriah Hackbarth and Erin Schmeling each grabbed seven.

MLC led 28-22 at the half, and then began to pull away in the third quarter. After scoring only nine points in the second quarter, UMM was held to six points in third stanza, with three of those coming on a three-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter.

The Cougars were able to hang within striking distance in the fourth quarter, but the Knights never allowed their lead to get below four points the rest of the way as they finished off the win.

Nass led the Knights with 14 points to go with her 11 rebounds, and made four key free throws in the second half to help hold off the Cougars.

Grace Schultz added 12 point and a team-high three assists.

The defense, led by the pressure of guard Jessica Friebe, forced the Cougars to shoot 31.6 percent from the field to go with 18 turnovers.

The MLC win snapped a six-game losing streak against the Cougars, dating back to the UMAC Championships Game win over UMM on February 25, 2012.

MLC improved to 8-7 on the season and 5-3 in league play with the win. UMM fell to 6-9 overall and 3-5 after the loss.

The Knights will return to action on Friday, January 22, when they travel to UW-Superior for a game scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.