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MLC women down Crown College 71-45

Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Ruth Buchholz (50) takes a shot during the first quarter of the Knights’ game against Crown College on Saturday at MLC in New Ulm. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NEW ULM — From the get-go, Martin Luther College clicked.

MLC jumped out to an 11-point lead from the opening tip and kept up the pace the whole way in beating Crown College 71-45 in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday.

The Knights (7-12, 5-6 UMAC) outscored the Storm 23-7 in the first quarter and never let their lead dwindle to single digits as soon as they took a double-digit lead.

“It doesn’t matter what the situation is in the game or who we’re playing against, that’s how we want to play: fast and physical, while also making smart decisions,” MLC coach Dan Gawrisch said. “We got better at who we are as a team today, so I’m very happy with that.”

Freshman forward Ruth Buchholz was instrumental in getting the Knights going by scoring four of their first five baskets in that opening 13-2 stretch on her way to finishing with a team-high 12 points. She also had a team-high seven rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

“We have been struggling to get points in the paint lately and she was always in the right position, hands ready to go and finishing strong every time, not being afraid of that contact down there,” MLC senior Mariah Schoof said of Buchholz. “We needed those points from her tonight and she did fantastic.”

The Storm (1-19, 0-11) managed to pick things up in the third quarter, when they started on a 6-0 run with a jumper by Katie Hinkle, 3-pointer from Molly Greenfield and one of two free throws from Damonyka Roberts.

The Knights were unable to match that intensity at first, but managed to pick it up after a 3 by Grace Schultz returned their 20-point lead at 46-26.

“We talked about it at halftime how we can’t get complacent because last year, they scored about 30 points in the fourth quarter against us,” Schoof said. “We knew coming into the game that we had to keep up the intensity, keep up the tempo. It’s easy for teams like that to get more physical and aggressive, and we had to match that.”

MLC was able to get its entire roster into the game, with 11 of its players scoring in some capacity. MLC’s bench accounted for 32 of its 71 points.

In other areas of the game, MLC dominated, outscoring Crown 36-18 in the paint, 34-19 in points off turnovers and 20-8 in second-chance points. It also held Crown without a field goal for the final 2:40 of regulation, closing the game with six points in that span.

“We used everyone on and off the court; our energy was phenomenal,” Gawrisch said. “That’s what’s got to be there no matter what the situation is and no matter who the opponent if we can bring that every time like we did today.”

Schultz and Jade St. Germaine each scored 11 points apiece, while Schoof had nine points and a game-high six assists. Hailey Johnson had eight points on 6-of-8 shooting in free throws.

MLC hits the road and plays at 5:30 p.m. Friday at UW-Superior before playing at 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Scholastica.

Crown 7 11 12 15 — 45

MLC 23 17 14 17 — 71

CROWN (45)

Kucza 0-5 0-0 0, Hinkle 1-2 0-0 2, Besa 0-2 0-2 0, Greenfield 2-9 0-0 6, Roberts 0-1 3-4 3, De La Ossa 2-4 0-0 4, Brueggeman 0-0 0-0 0, Douville 2-9 0-0 6, Carter 3-4 6-7 12, Stricklin 0-0 0-0 0, Crowns 0-3 0-0 0, Szczyrbak 3-9 0-0 6, Culbertson 0-1 0-0 0, Ruf 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 1-3 1-2 3, Warnes 0-0 1-2 1, Mauer 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 15-56 11-17 45.

MLC (71)

Schoof 2-11 4-4 9, Schroeder 0-1 0-0 0, St. Germaine 4-10 3-6 11, Schultz 4-9 2-2 11, Johnson 1-1 6-8 8, Otte 2-6 0-0 4, Weiers 1-2 0-0 2, C Friebe 0-2 0-0 0, Dewey 2-3 0-0 5, J Friebe 0-1 2-2 2, Zeck 1-1 3-6 5, Carmichael 0-2 0-0 0, Buchholz 6-9 0-1 12, Anklam 1-7 0-2 2. Totals 24-65 20-31 71.

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