MORRIS, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team Saturday was outscored 24-9 in the second quarter before eventually dropping the contest to Minnesota-Morris 70-51. With the loss the Vikings fall to 7-16 overall and 5-7 in the UMAC while the Cougars move to 10-12 overall and 8-4 in the conference. 

Bethany came out of the gates strong in this one, connecting on 6-of-13 shots in the first 10 minutes of play. Ashley Schindele was a large piece of that, as she poured in 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from behind the arc to help push the Vikings to a 17-12 lead. 

After Morris failed to score on their first three possessions of the second frame, they found their footing in a big way. The Cougars would score on nine of their next 10 possessions, as everything they put up found the bottom of the net. That was evident with time winding down in the half, as Bethany had trimmed what was once a 10-point deficit to seven with 30 seconds left before Morris threw up an off balance fallaway three-pointer at the end of the shot clock that was nothing but net for a 36-26 lead into the break.

The third quarter favored neither team, as they went back and forth with neither mustering much traction. Bethany would cut the lead to six a few times, but Morris would go on to extend it to nine at the end of the quarter. The Vikings showed life in the fourth, cutting the deficit down to six points before Morris scored eight unanswered to push their lead to 14 points. The Cougars slowly added to their lead and were able to seal the victory in the closing minutes.

Schindele led the charge in this one with 12 points, while Sara Kottke posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Bethany will be back in action on Friday when they host Northwestern for a 7:15 p.m. contest.