STORM LAKE, Iowa (Dec. 13, 2023) - Sophomore Danika Demers scored a career-high 24 points while fellow sophomore Abby Nagel turned in a career-best 15, but the tandem was unable to bring the Buena Vista women's basketball team back from a 24-point fourth quarter deficit as the Beavers fell at home to visiting Martin Luther College, 88-76, in a non-conference match-up.

Demers was 8-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-5 from downtown and also chimed in with seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Nagel added a pair of three-point buckets and was 5-of-12 from the field overall and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line. Junior McKenna Cone came off the bench to bury the team's final two three-point buckets en route to 13 points.

As a team, Buena Vista was 8-of-21 from long range but was held to a 2-of-10 effort from beyond the arc in the second half. It finished the game shooting 45.8 percent from the field overall.

Both teams came out and shot the ball efficiently in the opening stanza with the Beavers at a 60 percent clip with nine made field goals. The Knights stayed close by going 7-of-10 from the free-throw line in the quarter while BVU was held without a single attempt and trailed 26-21.

BVU was 50 percent from the field in the second period and held the Knights to 5-of-19. Demers drilled a three-point shot in transition as time expired to pull the Beavers back within 42-38 at the break. Martin Luther took control in the third quarter when it made eight field goals but was able to pull away by going 10-of-10 at the stripe. The lead reached double digits for the first time in the contest at 57-46 midway through the third frame with the Knights leading by as many as 20.

A layup by Martin Luther with 7:00 remaining in regulation matched its largest cushion at 81-57, and that's when the Beavers began to come to life. Cone nailed a triple to help spark a 15-2 surge over the next three minutes that brought BVU within 83-72. That, however, was as close as it could claw itself back while scoring just four points over the final four minutes.

Grace Kieselhorst led all scorers with 28 points to pace the Knights (3-8) with Lydia Feit adding 20.

Buena Vista drops to 1-7 overall and travels to North Central (Minn.) to wrap up the calendar year on Saturday, Dec. 16, with a 2 p.m. tip-off.