Morris, who has had some trouble finding her 3-point shot consistently this season, hit on a season best 5 of 11 from long range in the victory.

“My coaches, they just keep trusting me and keep putting positive [thoughts in me], like, ‘It’s OK, you’ve shot so many in practice and worked so hard at putting a lot of shots off,’ and they always remind me that I put in the work, just keep shooting and don’t think about it, don’t focus on the misses and keep shooting, keep going. Kind of like in life, you can’t really focus on the things that set you back, you’ve just gotta keep working.”

Morris also had four steals and finished the game shooting 12 of 20 from the floor (60%).

Wilhelmina Wenz added 11 points, five rebounds and five steals for the Knights (6-3), while Lydia Feidt had 10 points, seven steals, four rebounds and four assists. Minnesota Valley Lutheran grad Ella Hunter scored 8 points and added five rebounds off the bench for MLC, while Ava Walz had 7 points, six rebounds and six steals.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s Ella Hunter puts up a shot in the second half of Saturday’s nonconference women’s basketball game against Maranatha Baptist at MLC. Hunter finished the game with 8 points.

The only player who didn’t get into the scoring column for the Knights, Ella Walz, still contributed to the Knights’ big win with four assists and two steals.

The Knights outshot the Sabercats (0-8) 46.3% to 34.3%. MLC also had just 11 turnovers to the Sabercats’ 42.

Kyria Teachout led the Sabercats with 15 points and five rebounds, while Anna Alsup added 12 points.

The Knights opened the game on an 11-0 run, getting a putback from Feidt, two fast-break buckets by Wenz, and a 3 and layup from Morris during that stretch.

Morris ended the quarter with a layup to beat the buzzer and give the Knights a 27-11 lead.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther College’s Ella Walz puts up a contested shot in the paint during the first half of MLC’s nonconference women’s basketball game with Maranatha Baptist on Saturday.

Morris said getting a career high in points came in large part due to her teammates and the offensive strategy put in place.

“It was exciting and super fun because of how hard I’m putting the work in with my team and everbody,” Morris said. “Today we got to swing the ball and do a lot of things where I was put in the position where I could score that much, so that was super fun.”

Morris continued her scoring with a 3 after a steal by Ava Walz opened the second quarter. An and-one by Heather Wendt followed to give the Knights a 33-11 lead before baskets inside by Wenz, Ava Walz and Chloe Koschnitzke were followed with another Morris 3 for a 42-11 advantage.

A Teachout 3 ended what was a 15-0 Knights run to start the second quarter.

MLC led 48-16 at halftime.

The lead kept growing for the Knights in the third quarter as a 3 by Hunter put them up 73-17 with 2:52 left in the quarter. A free throw by Wenz ended the third quarter with a 59-point Knights lead, 78-19.

Koschnitzke scored on a layup less than two minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Knights their largest lead of the night, 82-22.

The Knights were able to get every available player in the game, with freshmen Josslin Adams and Kieghtan Rank entering and scoring in the fourth.

“I love when we get to be put in the position where [everyone] can go in and go play,” Morris said. “We get super excited on the bench for everybody and all those girls, and that they can score because they put in so much work. The starters, the only reason we’re as good is because of them at practice and being able to push us, so it’s super exciting when they get to do super well and succeed, too.”

MLC hosts Luther College at 6 p.m. Wednesday.