ST. BONIFACIOUS, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team Friday traveled to Crown and albeit making a late comeback fell short 63-57. With the loss the Vikings fall to 7-15 overall and 5-6 in the UMAC while the Polars move to 10-9 overall and 5-6 in the conference.

After the Vikings scored the first three points of the contest, Crown would answer with 12 of the next 15 to take a 12-6 lead six minutes into the first quarter. Annika Younge would then score inside followed by a Sara Kottke three pointer, before Younge knocked down a free throw to even the game at 12.  Each team would then go 4-of-4 from the free throw stripe in the final 1:12 as they headed to the quarter break tied at 16. Crown made their mark in the second quarter, holding the Vikings to just 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting while scoring 18 of their own to take a 34-28 lead into the half.

Bethany came out of the halftime break strong, with a Skylar Cotten three pointer midway through putting the Vikings back on top by a score of 39-38, but it was the last lead the visitors would see. Crown would respond with a three of their own and outscore Bethany 17-6 in the last 5:09 to take a 55-45 lead into the last quarter. In the fourth, the Polars would continue to press the advantage, leading by 11 with 4:50 left.  The Vikings would fight back into it and cut the deficit to as few as four, but couldn't get it any lower as Crown was able to escape with the win.

Cotten led Bethany in this one as she scored 14 points thanks to 9-of-12 shooting from the free throw line while Kaylee Hunter added 10. Annika Younge also reached double digits with a strong showing off the bench, scoring 10 points to go along with six rebounds.

The Vikings are back in action tomorrow when they play at Minnesota-Morris at 4:45 p.m.