NEW ULM, Minn. (November 20, 2021) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team outscored Martin Luther 15-5 in the second quarter and carried that momentum into the second half before hanging on in the end for a thrilling 55-52 non-conference road win over the Knights on Saturday evening.

Taylor Krager turned in a team-high 15 points to lead three Beavers in double figures.  Lindsie Graff followed with 11 with Lindsey Anhalt turning in 10.  Vanessa Hamlett was held to only six points but came up big on the defensive end by grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds.  Krager also dished out three assists and chalked up three streals.

BVU struggled a bit from the field, making 19-of-55 attempts overall (34 percent), including 3-of-16 from long range.  It made it to the free-throw line 27 times but managed to connect on only 14.

The Knights led 14-10 after on quarter before BVU held them to only five points in the second quarter while a three-pointer from Emerson Else capped a 13-2 run by the Beavers to put them up 23-18 with 2:03 left in the half en route to a 25-19 halftime lead.  That momentum carried over into the third quarter as the visitors built a 13-point cushion at 40-27 following a bucket from McKenna Cone.  Martin Luther connected from downtown in the closing seconds of the quarter to pull back within single digits at 43-34.

BVU maintained the double-digit margin throughout most of the fourth quarter, including a 51-41 lead with just two minutes left in regulation.  The Knights rolled off seven straight points over the next minute and got as close as 51-50 with 15 seconds to go.  Graff then came up clutch in the closing seconds by making four straight free-throws to extend the lead to 55-50 as Martin Luther got a last second layup for the game's final score.

Jordyn Heckendorf scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the opening quarter to lead Martin Luther (1-6) as BVU held the Knights to under 25 percent shooting from the field.

Buena Vista improves to 2-1 on the year and will look to carry over the winning ways as it gets set to play its home opener on Tuesday night, November 23, against Grinnell College.  Tip-off with the Pioneers inside of Siebens Fieldhouse is set for 5:30 p.m.