ST. PETER, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team lost its season opener at Gustavus Adolphus on Tuesday by the score of 82-50.

The Knights trailed 17-12 after the first period, but the Gusties took command of the game with a dominating second quarter, outscoring MLC 27-4 to take a 44-16 halftime lead. 

MLC was able to compete with the Gusties in the second half, but were never able to make up the damage from the second period the rest of the way.

Turnovers were costly for MLC early, as the Knights committed 21 miscues in the first half, on top of shooting 26.3 percent from the field as the Gusties raced to the big lead.

Mariah Schoof led MLC with 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field. Jade St. Germaine added ten points and a team-best nine rebounds. 

MLC fell to 0-1 on the season in defeat. GAC improved to 1-0 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Friday, November 18, when they travel to Saint Benedict for a game scheduled to start at 8 p.m.