Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s Emma Dorn (22) draws a foul against Bethany Lutheran College’s Megan Wegner during a UMAC women’s basketball game at MLC on Wednesday night.

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College women’s basketball team’s nine-game unbeaten stroke at home this season came to an end Wednesday night.

The Knights’ defense made up for an off night off shooting, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Bethany Lutheran College as the Vikings earned a 61-50 win in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game.

The Knights led in many key areas, such as steals (6-4), blocks (5-1) and offensive rebounds (16-10). They even had fewer turnovers, committing 10 to BLC’s 15.

But the one area the Knights couldn’t overcome came on offense as they shot 26% from the floor.

While BLC didn’t shoot much better at 33.3%, they hit 10 of 27 from beyond the arc as the Knights hit just 5 of 27. The Knights ended the half down 29-21 after making just 2 of 15 shots in the second quarter.

“As a team, we talked about at halftime that we could easily be ahead by a dozen points at this point if we just made the shots that we make all the time,” Knights head coach Dan Gawrisch said. “Sometimes it’s a little more complex and other times it’s pretty simple. I think tonight it was a pretty simple explanation as to why we didn’t come out ahead and that’s our shots didn’t fall like we know they can and they have all year long.”

The Knights were led by Mya Morris’ 12 points and eight rebounds, while Lydia Feidt had 11 points, six rebounds and three steals. Emma Dorn had 10 points and eight rebounds also for the Knights, while Lauren Paulsen had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

The Vikings were led by Gianna Klarenbeek, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while 6-foot-1 forward Lexiss Trygg had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Megan Wegner had 11 points also for BLC, while Kaylee Hunter added 7 points.

BLC took an early 11-5 lead in the opening quarter until Feidt buried a 3 and a jumper to have the Knights down 11-10. Morris canned a 3 of her own with 1:14 left in the quarter to give the Knights a 13-11 lead and the Knights led 17-14 heading into the second quarter.

As the second quarter went on, BLC chipped away at MLC’s lead and eventually took a 21-19 lead on a 3 from Klarenbeek. Klarenbeek hit another 3 for a 24-19 BLC lead moments later and then hit the last shot of the half, another 3.

“Klarenbeek was hot in the second quarter, and she really was on fire all night, so that was a big advantage for them and we just couldn’t find anyone to get it to drop until a little bit in the second half,” Gawrisch said.

Morris started to find her shot early in the second half, hitting two early 3s. Her second 3 had the Knights down 32-29. BLC got the final basket of the quarter again, though, a bucket inside by Trygg to lead 43-32 heading into the last quarter.

MLC cut its deficit to 47-40 with 5:55 left after a free throw from Dorn, but the Vikings again stretched their lead to as much as 54-40, after an and-one by Hunter. The Knights got within 9, 59-50, on a layup by Anna Kieselhorst in the final 15 seconds, but Trygg hit a pair of free throws to finish the scoring and give her team the double-digit win.

MLC is coming off a tough 88-64 UMAC loss at Northwestern on Saturday and now fell to BLC for the second time this year, previously losing at BLC on Jan. 22. Despite the tough losses in a crowded UMAC, Gawrisch said his players know there are still many UMAC games left to play and there is plenty of time to bounce back.

“It’s a long season and they know that and we talked about that,” Gawrisch said. “To have two games where we know we didn’t shoot or finish like we could. What I really liked was our defensive effort tonight and our energy and intensity, especially on the defensive end, rebounding effort, we know shots will drop because they have all year long. We do it every day in practice, we see it every day in practice. I would say the team knows and continues to believe in themselves and one another.

“As we talked about all season, it’s going to be a competitive conference. Any one of the top five or even six teams, no one would be surprised if they won on any given night. You’ve got to keep improving, it’s February in a long college season and yet here we are, we’re going to go back to work [Thursday] and we’re going to look to improve.”

MLC fell to 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the UMAC on Wednesday, tied for third in the conference with Minnesota Morris (8-12, 6-3) and BLC (7-13, 6-3). Northwestern (13-7, 7-2) defeated UW-Superior (11-9, 7-2) Wednesday night in overtime to grab a share of first place in the UMAC.

MLC travels to UW-Superior for another big UMAC game at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.