NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team earned its first win of the season by the score of 69-60 against Augsburg College in Friday's home opener. 

Augsburg led 33-31 after a back-and-forth first half, but the Knights started to take charge in the third quarter. MLC started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 38-35 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Auggies tied the score three times in the third quarter, but the Knights pushed the lead to 54-51 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Augsburg was able to cut the MLC lead to one (59-58) with 6:27 to play, but the Knights finished the game with a 10-2 run to close out the win.

MLC took advantage of an aggressive, physical Augsburg defense, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and also making the Auggies pay from the foul line by making 27 of 40 attempts from the charity stripe. 

The Knights were also strong on defense throughout the game, holding the Auggies to five three-point field goals on 29 attempts and also forcing 17 turnovers.

Grace Schultz led the charge on both ends of the floor, leading the Knights with 18 points, 13 rebounds and five steals. Jade St. Germaine finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Hailey Johnson scored a career-high 14 points and added two blocks. Moriah Hackbarth finished with a game-high seven assists to go with 10 points.

MLC improved to 1-1 on the season with the win. Augsburg fell to 0-2 in defeat.

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, November 18) when they host Viterbo for a game scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m.