WAVERLY, Iowa (Jan. 18, 2025) - The Buena Vista University women's basketball team jumped out to an early six-point lead at No. 11 Wartburg College on Saturday afternoon, but the Knights then closed the opening quarter on a 19-3 run and never looked back en route to an 87-53 American Rivers Conference over the Beavers inside of Levick Arena.

Freshman Bradi Kraager hit a pair of early three-point buckets as BVU started 3-of-5 from long range and held a 13-7 advantage midway through the opening quarter before the Knights responded with 19 straight points, including three straight from downtown, to take control. Freshman Tyme Boettcher nailed a long three-pointer in the closing seconds of the period to cut the deficit down to 23-16.

Senior McKenna Cone nailed a three-point attempt of her own early in the second quarter that pulled BVU as close as four at 27-23, but the Knights again made a pair of quick treys of their own around two free throws to push the margin back up to double digits at 35-23. Wartburg led by as many as 18 down the stretch of the first half before another three-point bucket from Krager inside the final minute brought the Beavers back to within 48-35 at the break.

Boettcher made her second three of the contest 90 seconds into the second half that kept it a 13-point game at 51-38, but that was as close as the Beavers would be from there as Wartburg went on a 20-3 run to build a 71-41 lead with under two minutes left in the third. The Knights led by as much as 36 in the fourth.

Krager led the Beavers with 16 points, including four three-point makes, to go along with seven rebounds. She was 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from downtown. Cone made a pair behind the arc and followed with 10 points. Junior Danika Demers chipped in with eight points and dished out four assists. BVU was 4-of-8 shooting from long range in the first quarter but went just 5-of-16 the rest of the way. The team finished the game shooting 36 percent from the floor and was held to only nine free-throw attempts.

Wartburg (14-2, 7-0 A-R-C) was 12-of-31 from long range (38.7 percent) and was 45 percent from the floor overall. The Knights were also aided by a 13-of-18 effort at the free-throw line and 27 points off of 27 BVU turnovers.

Buena Vista (5-11, 0-7 A-R-C) returns home on Jan. 22 to host Nebraska Wesleyan to close out the first half of the conference slate. Tip-off inside of Siebens Fieldhouse is at 5:30 p.m.