ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team used a strong defensive effort to score a 50-48 win at Crown College on Friday.

The Knights started slow, as the Storm raced out to a 12-0 lead before MLC got on the board with 4:30 to play in the first quarter. 

MLC would rally, however, cutting the deficit to 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, and then out-scoring the Storm 13-8 in the second period to pull within two (27-25) at the halftime break.

The teams traded the lead in the third quarter, with the Storm coming out of it with a slim 43-42 lead, but MLC quickly took the lead back in the fourth period.

In the final quarter, both teams struggled to find the basket, but the Knights took the lead for good on a baseline jumper from Lauren Paulsen with 1:25 to play in the game, and then held the Storm scoreless down the stretch to secure the win.

The MLC defense held the Storm to only five points in the fourth quarter, and held them without a point over the final 5:12 of game time. The Knights forced Crown to shoot 30.2 percent from the field for the game while also creating 19 turnovers.

Emma Nelson led MLC with nine points, while Anna Treder added eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds. 

MLC improved to 5-10 overall and 2-3 in UMAC play with the win. Crown fell to 5-6 on the season and 1-4 in league play in defeat. 

The Knights will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, January 22) when they travel to Minnesota Morris for a game scheduled to start at 3 p.m.