NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team got off to a great start on the way to a 71-57 win over Crown College on Wednesday.

The Knights built a 19-12 lead after the first quarter, but broke the game open in the second quarter by out-scoring the Storm 21-5 on the way to a 40-17 halftime lead.

The Storm was able to make the Knights work in the second half, but never cut the MLC lead into single digits the rest of the way as the Knights cruised to the 14-point win.

MLC was strong on both sides of the court, shooting 36.8 percent from the field on offense while forcing 27 turnovers on defense and holding the Storm to 37.9 percent for the game. 

The Knights scored 32 points off the 27 Storm miscues, and also out-scored Crown 32-24 in the paint for the game.

Emily Witkowski scored 11 points in the first quarter on the way to a game-high 23 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds and finished with three steals. 

Cassandra Rose joined her in double figures with 13 points and added nine rebounds, while Kortney Behnke led the team with five steals to go with her seven points.

MLC improved to 3-17 on the season and 3-9 in UMAC play with the win. Crown fell to 4-16 overall and 1-10 in league play in defeat.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday, February 8, when they travel to Northwestern-St. Paul for a game scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m.