MORRIS, Minn. - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team's comeback attempt came up short in a 68-60 loss at University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) on Saturday.

The Cougars took an early 18-13 after the first quarter, built their advantage to 36-22 at the half following a strong second quarter.

MLC fired back in the the third quarter, out-scoring the Cougars 20-11 in the period to cut the deficit to 47-42 heading into the final quarter.

The Knights continued to cut into the deficit, trailing by only three points at 49-46 with eight minutes remaining thanks to a pair of Anna Treder free throws, but that would be as close as they could get the rest of the way as UMM executed down the stretch hold them off and score the win.

After struggling on offense in the first half (29.0 percent overall, 0-9 on three-pointers), the Knights came to life in the second half, making four of 11 attempts from downtown and shooting 41.4 percent from the field.

Treder led the way for MLC on offense with 13 points to go with 10 rebounds. Maya Price and Emily Rothfuss added 12 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.

MLC fell to 5-11 on the season and 2-4 in UMAC play in defeat. UMM improved to 6-10 overall and 4-2 in league play with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, January 26, when they host North Central University in a game scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m.