NEW ULM, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team saw Martin Luther make a late comeback on Saturday afternoon before eventually defeating the Knights 56-51. With the win the Vikings move to 6-13 overall and 4-4 in the UMAC while the Knights fall to 8-11 overall and 1-7 in conference play.

Bethany got off to an ideal start in this one, slowly building a lead that they would extend to 15-4 after a Skylar Cotten basket inside. The Knights would claw back late in the first quarter, outscoring the Vikings 6-2 in the final three minutes to trail just 17-10 after one quarter of play. MLC would slowly whittle away at the Bethany lead in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to one with 2:42 to play in the half. Sara Kottke would score in the pain before Cotten buried a three to push the Vikings back out to a six-point lead with time winding down. The Knights would score with the clock nearing zero though as Bethany held a 28-24 advantage after one half.

Bethany would build their lead up to eight to open the third frame but MLC would continue to fight back, outscoring the Vikings 13-8 in the final six minutes to trail 40-37 headed into the fourth.  The final quarter played out much like the first and third, with Bethany slowly building upon their lead as they held a 46-39 advantage with six minutes to play. The Knights would respond with seven straight points to tie the game before Lexiss Trygg made one of two free throws to put the Vikings back on top. MLC would respond with two free throws of their own to take their first lead of the contest before Kaylee Hunter banked in a tough basket inside to put Bethany back up by one. Hunter would make two more free throws on the next possession to go up three, before MLC scored three unanswered to re-tie the game with 1:42 left. Once again Hunter came through late though, as the first-year would score again to give the Vikings a two-point lead with a minute left. From there on out, the Knights would be held scoreless and the Vikings would seal the game late with free throws and defensive stops.

Cotten led the Viking offense in this one with 16 points while Trygg had a big day inside with 14 points and nine rebounds. Sara Kottke also finished in double figures as she had 12 points while Hunter finished her day with nine.