RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (7-3 overall) fell 79-68 to UW-River Falls (5-4) Tuesday night.

The Falcons opened the first two minutes of the contest on a 9-2 run. The Vikings battled back as senior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) converted a three-point play to take the 15-12 lead with 4:49 to play in the frame.

River Falls knotted it on a triple on its next trip down the court. The lead changed hands three more times in the next three minutes as the Falcons led 22-20 at the end of the first.  

In the second stanza, UWRF led by as many as 13 (33-20) with 6:23 to go. Bethany answered again and sliced the margin to one (35-34) on a jumper from freshman Grace Gerken (Brandon, S.D.). The Falcons took the 41-36 lead at halftime.

UW-River Falls led for the duration of the second half. BLC was able to make it a five-point game (67-62) with 5:33 to go in the fourth, and outscored the Falcons in the fourth quarter (21-19), but it wasn't enough to overcome the initial deficit.

Geistfeld led all scorers with 26 points and added 11 rebounds. She had 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half alone.

Two teammates joined her in double digits as sophomore Sara Kottke (Buffalo Lake, Minn.) had 12 points and senior Laura Ellinghuysen (Winona, Minn.) had 10.

Bethany owned the team advantages in three-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, and assists.

The Vikings return to action Saturday for their home opener against UW-Stout at 1 p.m.