NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College Knights women’s basketball team stayed perfect at home and in the conference with a win over the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Saturday at MLC.

Cooling off offensively after the first quarter, the Knights found their shot again late and paired that with some key defensive stops to pull out a 60-52 win over the Yellowjackets in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game.

Mya Morris led the Knights with 22 points and five rebounds, while freshman Ava Stein picked things up for her team on the low post with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Emma Dorn has typically been the Knights’ go-to player in the post, but she had a tough night with her shot as she finished 2 for 11 from the floor for 7 points. Dorn did grab a team-high nine rebounds, but she needed help down low, especially when going up against the Yellowjackets’ 6-foot-3 Charlotte Ferstl.

Ferstl countered with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to lead the Yellowjackets, while Elise Besonen added 14 points.

Grace Kieselhorst added 7 points for the Knights but spent most of the fourth quarter in foul trouble, picking up her fourth foul with 9:49 left to play.

The Yellowjackets never led during the game but didn’t make things easy for the Knights either. The Knights shot 53.3% in the first quarter and led 20-16 after it but watched their offense slow down in the second quarter as the Yellowjackets matched it, giving the Knights a 30-26 halftime lead.

The teams continued to trade buckets in the third quarter before Morris hit back-to-back 3s in the final minute of the third to give MLC a 42-35 lead heading into the final frame.

After Elsa Olson scored in the paint with around seven minutes left to play to have UW-Superior down 43-39, the Knights needed an answer and got it in a surprising way. Moments later with the shot clock winding down and just Stein open from the 3-point line, the freshman forward put up just her 10th 3-point attempt of the season and buried it with 6:15 on the clock to give MLC a 7-point lead.

After Besonen answered with a layup, it was someone else’s turn to make a big 3 for MLC and that someone was Anna Kieselhorst, who knocked down a 3 to put her team up 49-41.

After two quick layups by Olson in the final minute made it 54-50, Anna Kieselhorst showed up again for her Knights with a pair of free throws and a steal and pass to Morris, who was fouled and sank two bonus free throws to make it 58-50.

Olson and Morris traded free throws after that for the final score.

MLC ended up shooting 35.2% to the UW-Superior’s 33.9%.

The win moved MLC to 4-0 in the UMAC, 7-0 at home and 10-4 overall. The Yellowjackets fell to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in the UMAC.

Giving the Yellowjackets their first conference loss of the season gave the Knights sole possession of first place in the UMAC.

NOTE: A complete story with player comments and photo will be available in Tuesday’s edition of The Journal and online.