MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (5-2 overall, 1-1 UMAC) fell 59-52 to Northwestern (5-5, 3-0) Wednesday evening in its first conference loss of the season.

The Vikings led 18-16 after the first quarter, but were unable to score in the second quarter to trail 26-18 at halftime. BLC outscored the Eagles in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome the initial deficit.



Three starters recorded double doubles as junior Kenlie Pytleski (East Chain, Minn.) had 19 points and 13 rebounds, senior Emily Skrien (Nicollet, Minn.) had 13 points and 12 rebounds and junior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Bethany held the advantage in offensive rebounds (16-9), assists (12-6), and blocks (4-3).

BLC returns to the court Saturday on the road against UW-Superior at 4:45 p.m.