STORM LAKE, Iowa (Dec. 9, 2023) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team returned to American Rivers Conference play on Saturday afternoon to host visiting Luther College, but the Beavers fell behind big in the first quarter and were never able to recover en route to a 75-37 setback to the Norse.

Luther scored the first 25 points of the game before a pair of McKenna Cone free-throws inside the final two minutes of the opening quarter got BVU on the board while Allie Leisher added a jumper with under one minute to play that made it 25-4 after the first 10 minutes.

The second quarter was much tighter, but the Beavers were never able to mount any threat and trailed 39-16 at the break. Both teams shot better than 40 percent throughout the third quarter before the Norse built their largest lead at 39 points midway through the fourth quarter.

The Beavers struggled to shoot from downtown in the contest, making only 1-of-24 from beyond the arc and finished the game shooting only 23.6 percent from the field overall.

Cone led BVU with nine points and five rebounds while Abby Nagel was right behind with eight points, including 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Danika Demers chipped in with six points, a team-high nine rebounds, and dished out four assists and added three steals.

Haylie Strum and Lizzie Kauls each scored 15 points to lead Luther (5-4, 3-1 A-R-C).

Buena Vista falls to 1-6 on the year (0-3 A-R-C) and will host Martin Luther College on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m.