New Ulm, MN - The Martin Luther College women's basketball team won their fifth consecutive game with a 60-51 win against the Crown Polars on Parents' Day. Lydia Feidt and Lauren Paulsen finished with 17 points apiece to lead the Knights and the women came up with timely buckets and defensive stops to complete the season sweep of the Polars on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights previously defeated Crown 80-71 on January 12 and are now 7-3 in their last 10 meetings with the Polars.

MLC was without senior Emma Nelson in this contest, but started off the game by hitting some 3-pointers. There was little separation between the two schools for the majority of the first half, until the Knights went on a 9-2 run with 3:57 remaining. Jordyn Heckendorf found Feidt for an easy bucket down low and that play would force a Crown timeout after MLC went up 24-17. The Polars climbed back with a 7-1 run themselves following the timeout, but the Knights still managed to head into halftime up 25-24.

Both teams shot over 40 percent in the third quarter and the Knights went down five points on multiple occasions. However, MLC hung in tough and ended the quarter up 43-42 after a driving layup by Heckendorf.

For a second straight game, the women made critical shots in the fourth quarter and kicked off crunch time with an 11-2 run, which saw a variety of Paulsen buckets and a Feidt 3-pointer from the top of the key. As a result, MLC secured their biggest lead of the game (64-54) at the 4:55 mark.

In the final minutes, the Polars put together seven unanswered points to still make a game of it, but there would be no late comeback for Crown as MLC decided the game with a couple of layups near the rim from Paulsen and Feidt. 

In addition to Paulsen's 17-point performance, the junior was a force on the glass and grabbed 11 boards, while her teammate Grace Kieselhorst scored 10 points and snagged a career-high 16 rebounds. Heckendorf finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

MLC dominated the paint and outscored the Polars 36-20 down low. The Knights also took care of the ball and a recorded a season low in turnovers (9).

With the win, MLC goes to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in conference competition. The Knights now sit in a fifth-place tie with Bethany and play a critical game with the fourth-place North Central Rams on Friday, February 9, at 5:30 p.m.