Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College guard Mya Morris (33) passes the ball while being defended by Buena Vista’s McKenna Cone (25) during a nonconference women’s basketball game on Friday night at MLC.

NEW ULM — Relying on outside shooting wasn’t exactly the game plan for the Martin Luther College Knights going into Friday’s home opener, but it was hard to stop when the 3s continued to drop.

WIth seven players hitting at least one 3 in the game and a strong rebounding effort, the Knights downed the Buena Vista Beavers 75-54 in a nonconference women’s basketball game at the Luther Student Center.

The Knights went 13 of 25 from beyond the arc, led by Mya Morris, who hit 4 of 7 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

The Knights also won the battle on the boards 38-25.

“We don’t have a game plan whether to shoot outside or not against teams, our basic game plan going into every week, every game, every opponent is to take what the defense gives us,” Knights head coach Dan Gawrisch said. “We know we have players that can score inside, we know we can beat teams off the drive, but when they’re playing really solid defense and they did a lot of zone in the first half, we had a chance to knock down some 3s and we did.”

Grace Kieselhorst was the second of four Knights in double figures as she finished with 15 points, while Lydia Feidt had 12 points. Fifth-year senior Emma (Nelson) Dorn finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. All of those players made at least one 3-pointer in the game for the Knights, while Lauren Paulsen added a pair of 3s and Anna Kieselhorst and Alana Sulzle each hit a 3.

Dorn, playing her first college game at MLC since getting married, hit 2 of 4 3s in the game.

“When I got into college, I wanted to be more of a versatile player so I could play inside and outside,” Dorn said. “So I did work on my 3 shot a lot. But, I don’t know, I still airball a lot [laughs].”

Airballs were certaintly not the story of the game for the Knights, however, as they got going early on.

Paulsen got the Knights on the board in the first quarter with a 3 before a free throw by Grace Kieselhorst and a layup by Feidt gave MLC a 6-0 start. Grace Kieselhorst banked in a 3 moments later before Morris hit her first of four 3s to put the Knights up 12-8.

The Knights took their largest lead of the half in the second quarter when Anna Kieselhorst drained a 3 to put the Knights up 37-21 with 1:01 left in the half. The Beavers got that 3 back on one from Tyme Boettcher, who led the Beavers with 12 points, but Feidt answered with a 3 of her own with 32 seconds left in the half to give the Knights a 40-24 halftime lead.

A Paulsen 3 capped off a 10-0 Knights run to open the third quarter and them up 50-24, their largest lead of the night. The Knights got into some foul trouble later in the third quarter, however, and an effective full-court press allowed the Beavers to cut their deficit to 54-36 entering the fourth.

Mckenna Scott hit a 3 early in the fourth to bring the Beavers back within 15, 54-39.

“First of all, once we started picking up more fouls, then it started getting a little more tighter, especially around the rim on the defensive end with foul calls, which was fine,” Gawrisch said. “We didn’t adjust the right way. So then they got some free throws and that allowed them to set up their press all the time. The other thing was, yeah, we were playing with the lead and I think our players were a little bit nervous about not making a turnover, which when you play hesitant, and we talked about that and will keep working at it, when you play hesitant, you’re going to be more susceptible to it. So we just had to fall back into what we do and playing like who we are.”

Gawrisch also said the letup late in the third quarter and early in the fourth can be attributed to it still being early in the season and not getting many full practices in with several multi-sport athletes that compete in the fall.

Thankfully for the Knights, their hot hands early on heated up again late as Morris, Dorn and Sulzle each hit a 3 in the final five minutes to maintain distance.

Gawrisch said Morris, a sophomore transfer from Crown College, has fit in well with the Knights in her first year.

“First of all, Mya’s such a kind person that she has just fit seamlessly into our team,” Gawrisch said. “Constantly encouraging her teammates and staying positive out there. She had some good looks in our loss on Monday night, too, but it wasn’t falling for her. Tonight it was. Again, that’s the team we are. Every night we don’t know who’s going to lead us in scoring and I think that makes it tough for opponents to scout us.”

After dropping a close game at Macalester College to open the season on Tuesday, 69-61, the Knights got some momentum and confidence back with the big win over Buena Vista on Friday. They will look to move to 2-1 on the season with a 2:45 p.m. home game against Maranatha Baptist University on Saturday.

“I think, personally, this is one of the best team’s that I’ve played on at MLC,” Dorn said. “I feel like this year’s team has a lot of depth. Everyone on the team has something to bring and it’s so cool to see because everyone has such unique skills and we all compliment each other so well. It’s just awesome to see how deep our team goes.”