New Ulm, MN - The MLC women's basketball team took on the Luther College Norse from Decorah, Iowa on Tuesday evening. The Knights entered the fourth quarter with a 39-38 lead, but soon saw their lead disappear as the Norse put together a 19-5 run fueled by their full court pressure of MLC and snatched the game away from the Knights 65-59.

After falling behind by as much as 13 points (59-46) in the fourth quarter, the Knights would make a final push at a comeback and cut it to five (62-57) with 37 seconds remaining. The turnovers though would prove to be too much for them to overcome and the Norse would ice the game away with a couple of free throws. 

MLC played scrappy defense in this matchup and held Luther to just eight points in the second quarter on 4-of-15 shooting from the field (26.7 percent). However, the Norse regathered themselves later on in the second half off of MLC turnovers and came up with high quality shots near the basket to shoot far better at 47 percent to close out the game.

Haylie Strum was all over the court defensively and recorded six steals for the Norse, to go along with team-high 15 points. Meanwhile, Kailey Jones provided a frontcourt presence down low, as the forward gained solid post position to guide her to a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds).

Grace Kieselhorst would lead MLC in scoring for a second consecutive game and was efficient from the floor, shooting 67 percent and finishing with 16 points. The Knights as a team were active in the passing lanes tonight and collected 14 steals.  Lauren Paulsen and Jordyn Heckendorf had four steals and seven boards each, as Paulsen also finished with 13 points, while Heckendorf had 12 points. 

Lydia Feidt also played well in her second game back from injury, scoring 13 points, while shooting 50 percent from 3-point territory.

The win for Luther gives them their fourth consecutive victory of the season and a second win over a UMAC school.

MLC now goes to 2-6 with the loss, but did play another hard nosed game defensively and showed further improvement in multiple areas. The women will now begin conference play on Friday, December 8, against Northwestern at 5:30 p.m. in the LSC.