St. Bonifacius, MN - MLC women faced off against the Crown Polars for their second matchup of the season. The Knights had previously lost the first contest 61-54 on January 20 and came within 1 second of pulling off the upset win in on Saturday evening, but came up just short after Madi Hecox hit a pair of free throws to defeat MLC 75-74.

    Crown's backcourt displayed their athleticism and basketball IQ early on with successful drives to the basket and used their skill sets to jump out to a 27-16 lead. The Knights would respond from the early deficit and were only down 29-23 after a Jayden Koehler 3-pointer. MLC would get hot from the floor for the remainder of the first half and ended it with a 3-pointer from Erika Gosch to pull the Knights within three points (40-37).

    The two squads traded baskets to start the second half and Gosch picked up where she left off in the first half, with another perimeter shot to make it (52-45) at the 3:16 mark of the third quarter. However, the Polars answered with a couple of outside jumpers from Shauna Thompson and Amy Martius to extend their lead to 58-46.

    MLC showed their resiliency with key baskets from Emma Nelson and Kortney Behnke to start the fourth quarter to bring the deficit down to 58-54. The Knights would then get an added spark from Gosch again when she knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and a mid-range jumper to tie the game 66-66 with 2:50 left in the game. The Knights capitalized on their offensive barrage with an Ally Platzer triple to give MLC the 71-69 advantage. Crown would then hit a 3-pointer and both teams split a pair of free throws, but MLC would take their final lead of the game with an isolation layup by Jordyn Heckendorf with 9 seconds remaining. The Knights had looked to come away with the one-point win, but were called for a last second shooting foul by Gosch. As a result, the Polars connected on both free throw attempts and defeated the Knights 75-74.

    The one-point loss was the closest outcome for MLC women in UMAC play, besides the North Central win back in January. MLC's Gosch finished with a season-high 19 points and went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.

MLC (8-15, 1-11) will return to action on Friday, February 17, when they host North Central at 7:15 p.m.