MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (9-1 overall) won its third-straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championship Monday in the 75-72 thriller over North Central (18-4). The Vikings also handed the Rams the first loss on their home court this season.
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Senior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) was named the Tournament MVP for the second-straight year. She finished with 29 points and 17 rebounds for a double double. Geistfeld became the career leader in field goals on her layup with 8:35 to go in the third quarter. She surpassed Haley Sandin's mark of 602. Gesitfeld had 13 free throws which shattered the single game tournament record for BLC, and her 17 rebounds also set a new mark. The previous best in free throws was 8 set by Haley Sandin against Martin Luther in 2017, and the previous record for rebounds was 15, which last occured by Briana Brandts in 2016.
Freshman Sara Kottke (Buffalo Lake, Minn.) had 11 points and sophomore Taryn Christensen (South Sioux City, Neb.) had 10 and the game-winning steal with 14 seconds left.
In the early going, North Central held a brief six-point lead before taking just a two-point lead after the first 10 minutes of play. The Vikings roared back in the second quarter outscoring the Rams 21-10 to take a nine-point lead into the half.
The Vikings built on that lead with a 17-12 advantage in the third quarter. However, the Rams made a furious attempt at a comeback in the fourth quarter – eventually outscoring the Vikings 33-22 – and managed to take a 69-68 lead with 46 seconds remaining. Two late-game turnovers, though, stopped the Rams' comeback just short of their first program tournament title.
