St. Bonifacius, MN - The MLC women's basketball lost in a close game at Crown 71-69 on Wednesday. The game featured 24 lead changes and seven ties in the tightly contested UMAC game.

The Polars got a big boost from Brayli Reimer, who scored 33 points and Morgan Bednarek (10 points, 17 rebounds).

Ava Walz had a big night for MLC and put up a career high 21 points in 24 minutes on the court,  shooting 69 percent, while Wilhelmina Wenz recorded a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds). Wenz also broke the MLC single-season rebounding record of 222 set by Emma Babinec (2005-06) and Jade St. Germaine (2016-17). The sophomore has totaled 235 rebounds this season.

The contest was truly back and forth, especially in the first half when the biggest lead was five points (20-15) with Crown leading around 9:39 in the second quarter. The Polars added a little more separation in the third quarter when they went up 48-39 with 3:10 left in the period. However, the Knights went on an 8-0 run in the last few minutes to make it 49-47 heading into the final quarter.

MLC would eventually rally back to take the lead in the fourth and took a 60-56 advantage on an Ava Walz 3-pointer with over five minutes remaining. A couple of free throws ultimately gave Crown the winning outcome and they held on after the Knights were unable to convert on a look from beyond the arc with a chance to win.

Ava Stein pitched in 14 points, and Lydia Feidt had a game-high four steals for MLC.

MLC will aim to get a road conference win on Saturday when they head to Minnesota Morris for a 1 p.m. UMAC game.