NEW ULM, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team took a close game through 10 minutes and blew it wide open with a display of lockdown defense in the second quarter en route to an 88-49 win on the road at Martin Luther College on Tuesday night. The victory moves the Cougars to 3-2 (2-2 UMAC) on the year, while the Knights fall to 1-7 (0-4 UMAC).

Martin Luther was surprisingly feisty in the first quarter, building an early lead on UMN Morris and holding onto it nearly throughout the opening period. The final lead of the night for the Knights came at 18-17 before Haley Wollschlager grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast to put the Cougars ahead. Jadyn Sondrol added a pair at the line before the quarter ended to make it 21-18.

Minnesota Morris would hold Martin Luther to a single made field goal in the second quarter, opening up a huge halftime advantage. A free throw from Lexus Eagle Chasing and a Sondrol layup made it 24-18 before that one Knight field goal, a three-pointer from Emily Witkowski, cut it to 24-21 with 7:14 to go until halftime. The only other points that Martin Luther would score in the quarter would come from the charity stripe and the Cougars pounced on that offensive ineptitude, building to a 41-24 halftime edge.

The Knights provided some resistance in the third quarter before running out of steam in the final couple minutes. Martin Luther was actually able to cut into the lead much of the way in the third quarter, but with the score at 57-41, Minnesota Morris closed on a 7-0 run with Eagle Chasing supplying five of those points.

The fourth quarter was a near-repeat of the second quarter, with Martin Luther unable to muster much offensively and the Cougars expanding on their lead throughout. The final margin of 88-49 would be Minnesota Morris' largest edge of the night.

Ten players got into the scoring column for UMN Morris on Tuesday and four hit double-figures. Sondrol and Malory Anderson tied for game-high honors with 14 points apiece. Eagle Chasing had 13 and Ella Van Kempen ended with 12. Both Anderson and Van Kempen came up one rebound shy of double-doubles, each ending with nine. 

With the game Minnesota Morris was originally scheduled to play on Thursday postponed, the Cougars and Knights will instead run it back that night at Jim Gremmels Court at 7 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.