MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team trailed by 24 points in the second quarter of Tuesday's match up with Wartburg, getting it as close as seven in the fourth quarter before falling 93-83. With the loss the Vikings fall to 0-7 in the contest while the Knights move to 8-0.



Wartburg showed why they're deserving of their ranking early in this one, playing an up-tempo style that put them up 15-4 in the first four and half minutes of action. Megan Wegner and Kaylee Hunter would respond with baskets to cut the deficit to eight, but the Knights would roll the remainder of the quarter and led 35-13 after one.

The Knights would extend their lead to 24 early in the second quarter before the Vikings finally started to find their groove. Bethany would get going offensively, but Wartburg continued to find their way to the basket as well as they would hold a 50-29 lead with just over five minutes to go in the half. Over the final 5:09 though, the Vikings would outscore the Knights 13-5 to cut the deficit to just 55-42 headed to the break.

Aubrea Kor would finish on a nifty move inside to open the third before the Knights would go on an 8-2 run to take a 17-point lead. On their heels once again the Vikings would lock in, scoring eight of the next 10 with Lexiss Trygg chipping in five to cut the deficit to 10.

Just as quickly as Bethany cut into the lead, the Knights would knock down back-to-back triples to push their advantage back to 16 points. Kor would then drill a triple that was answered by a free throw from the Knights before the two teams traded a basket apiece with under a minute left. With the Knights holding for the final shot of the quarter the Vikings would draw a change with four seconds left, and on the ensuing inbound Kor would hit a bank shot from just inside of the half court to cut the lead to 11 headed to the fourth.  

Wartburg would score the first three points of the fourth before Kor once again finished inside for the Vikings. The Knights would maintain their double digit lead and hold a 85-73 advantage with 2:38 to go before Kor continued to dominate offensively with another basket inside. On the ensuing Wartburg possession, Juliana Ewald would force a turnover and bury a three off an assist from Kor on the other end to pull the Vikings within seven. That was as close as they would get though as the Knights would connect on enough free throws late to salt the game away.

Kor had a career game for the Vikings, tallying 26 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on an efficient 9-of-15 from the field. Gianna Klarenbeek and Ewald came off the bench to add 10 points for the Vikings, with Ewald also adding three assists and a pair of steals.

After shooting 5-of-13 (38.5%) in the first quarter, the Vikings would go 26-of-53 (49.1%) over the final 30 minutes of the contest. Inversely, the Knights shot a scorching 14-of-18 (77.8%) in the first 10 minutes before being held to 19-of-45 (42.2%) over the final three quarters.

Bethany will be back in action on Friday when they host North Central for a 6 p.m. contest.