St. Paul, MN - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team had a chance to extend their winning streak to seven games when they played Northwestern on Saturday night. The women were still in the game to begin the second half and would get as close as six points (35-29) at the 6:38 mark of the third quarter. However, the Eagles strung together an 8-0 run and held off an MLC comeback in the remainder of the half to defeat the Knights 65-52.

Despite the loss, MLC women's basketball had their second longest winning streak (6) since the 2011-12 team under Larry Czer that won nine in a row en route to a UMAC championship and NCAA tournament berth.

Northwestern got plenty of support from their whole squad and outscored MLC 20-4 in bench scoring. The Eagles' defense also presented a problem for the Knights offensively, as the women shot 26.1 percent from the field (18-for-69).

The Eagles didn't have much success shooting from the outside, going 5-for-28 on 17.9 percent shooting, but got some paint production and outscored the Knights 34-20 in that area.

Emma Nelson finished with a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) for MLC, while Lauren Paulsen finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

MLC goes to 11-12 overall and 6-6 in conference competition after tonight's result. The Knights are now in a three-way tie with North Central and Bethany due to the Vikings win over the Rams (65-63). Northwestern remains in third place with and 8-4 UMAC record.

The Knights will go on to host UW-Superior on Friday, February 16, at 5:30 p.m.