MORRIS, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team built a halftime lead on Friday night but Minnesota Morris bounced back in the second half to take a 67-51 win. With the loss the Vikings fall to 2-13 overall and 2-2 in the UMAC while the Cougars move to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

After Bethany trailed 8-5 in the early stages of the contest they would start to find their groove offensively. Aubrea Kor and Lexiss Trygg both scored inside before Kaylee Hunter would hit a three that would give the Vikings a 12-10 lead. They would continue to push their momentum into the quarter break, holding a 19-12 lead after one quarter of play.

The Vikings lead 21-15 with seven and a half minutes to go in the second before Kor would connect inside again and Hunter would hit another three for the Vikings largest lead of the contest at 11. The offense would hit a scoring drought the rest of the quarter though, as they were outscored 13-6 over the final 5:30 and led just 32-28 at half.

In the third quarter Morris turned the tide of the game, as they came out in a zone trap and used their size to give the Vikings fits. The Cougars would force six Bethany turnovers in the first 4:17 of the half, but they couldn't take advantage as the Vikings still led 34-32 at that point. Bethany would limit the turnovers the remainder of the quarter but couldn't get shots to fall as Morris would use a 14-7 run the remainder of the frame to lead by five headed to the fourth.

Although Morris head coach Tim Grove talked after the game about how that zone trap defense is normally just used a few possessions, the Cougars stuck with it for the final 20 minutes of play and it continued to plague the Viking offense in the fourth. 12 more turnovers in the quarter for Bethany and 3-of-14 shooting from the field would prove to be the difference as they fell 67-51.

Trygg led the Vikings with 15 points and six rebounds, while Kor had11 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

Although Bethany forced 23 Morris turnovers in the contest, they committed 30 of their own in the loss.

The Vikings are back in action tomorrow when they play Crown at 3 p.m.