New Ulm, MN - The Martin Luther College women's basketball squad gave another diligent effort in its game against UW-Superior, but the Yellowjackets would outscore the Knights 19-10 in the fourth quarter en route to their 73-57 win on Friday.

With the win, UW-Superior claimed the regular season UMAC title after going 12-1 in conference competition. The regular season title is fifth in program history and their first since the 2018-19 season.

Although the Yellowjackets won by double-digits, the Knights sure made things interesting by answering UW-Superior bucket-for-bucket. Jordyn Heckendorf finished the first quarter strong and gave the Knights a 22-21 lead with a buzzer beating 3-pointer from deep.

From there, UW-Superior possessed crisp ball movement in the second quarter and grabbed a nine-point (37-28) lead following an Emily Dehler layup at the 2:22 mark. Still, MLC wouldn't be phased and scored five unanswered points to bring their first half deficit to 37-33.

MLC got within two points of UW-Superior (44-42) with 5:46 remaining in the third period, but would be unable to get any closer than that as the Yellowjackets went on an 18-0 run to comfortably control the rest of the contest.

UW-Superior benefited from efficient outside shooting, as the Yellowjackets shot 48.1 percent from deep (13-for-27). Meanwhile, MLC had difficulty getting the 3-point shot to fall and shot 20 percent (3-for-15). The Knights would outscore UW-Superior in the paint 32-26.

Charlotte Ferstl led the way for the Yellowjackets with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), while Erika Mattson had 14 points on four 3-pointers.

Heckendorf led all scorers with 23 points and was active in passing lanes, grabbing four steals. Fellow senior, Emma Nelson, finished with 17 points and eight boards. 

Despite the late surge by the Knights, Friday evening's loss officially eliminates MLC from a berth in the UMAC tournament. North Central holds the tiebreaker over MLC and Bethany and would secure the fourth spot with a win tomorrow or a Bethany loss.

The Knights (11-13, 6-7) do have a chance to end the season a positive note though and will host Northland College for senior day on Saturday, February 17, at 3 p.m. 

You can read the UMAC tournament seed scenarios if you click here.