MINNEAPOLIS - The Martin Luther College (MLC) women's basketball team dropped its final non-conference tune up before the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) season by the score of 85-59 at North Central University (NCU) on Wednesday.

The two teams went back and forth in the first half, with the Knights tying the score 36-36 on an Erika Gosch three-pointer with just under three minutes to play in the second quarter, but the Rams would finish the first half with a 14-0 flurry over the final 2:19 to take a 50-36 lead into the break.

Gosch was the Knights' top scorer in the first half with 12 points, while Emily Witkowski added eight points.

The Rams continued their run in the third quarter as they made four three-pointers early in the half to push the lead over 20 points for the first time. The Knights battled on defense, but could not find enough offense to cut into the deficit the rest of the way.

MLC finished the game shooting 34.8 percent from the field, while NCU shot 53.4 percent. The Rams did their damage inside and out, out-scoring MLC 40-26 in the paint while also shooting 10-22 from beyond the three-point arc.

Gosch finished with a team-best 15 points on 6-10 shooting overall, including 3-6 from downtown. Witkowski joined her in double figures with 13 points, while Anna Treder led the team with eight rebounds to go with six points.

The Knights fell to 0-2 on the season in defeat. NCU improved to 8-2 with the win.

MLC will return to action on Saturday, January 30, when it travels to UW-Superior for the start of UMAC play. That game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.