UMAC Game of the Week: Bethany Lutheran at Martin Luther - Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL -- The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
The week's UMAC Game of the Week will take place on Tuesday, January 29 as the Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther women's basketball teams tipoff at 5:30 p.m. The rivalry game kicks off the second half of the conference schedule with both teams working to earn a spot in the UMAC post-season tournament.
About the Vikings
Bethany has seen better results since playing in the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps/Cal-Tech Holiday Classic in California. They split a pair of games there and have alternated wins and losses in their last nine contests and are coming off a loss Saturday to UM-Morris.
The Vikings possess a strong post presence with sophomores Shelby Wiederhoeft and Kasslin Swenson and freshman Briana Brandts. Wiederhoeft and Swenson earned UMAC Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks recently. In conference play, the duo have really stepped up their play putting up double-double numbers on a nightly basis. Wiederhoeft is averaging 18 points per game and 11.9 rebounds per game while Swenson is putting up numbers of 12.1 ppg and 10 rpg. Brandts is nearly averaging a double-double herself by scoring 10 ppg and 9.3 rpg in conference play. All three are amongst the top five in the conference rebounding average.
Jade Pelzl leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game and is fourth in the UMAC in that category. She is coming off a 25-point performance on Saturday and hit a career high seven three-pointers in the game.
About the Knights
The Knights finished the first half of conference play with a record of 4-3 and sit in a tie for third place in the conference standings in their defense of last season’s UMAC Championship. The Knights have been unable to get enough momentum going so far in conference play, alternating wins and losses in the first seven contests.
MLC features a balanced offense, with six players averaging between 7.6 and 10.7 points per game during UMAC play. Hannah Hackbarth (10.7 points per game) leads the team in scoring during that stretch, and first-year forward Leah Nass continues to come on as the season progresses, averaging 9.7 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game in conference play. In the first meeting between the two teams on January 8, Nass scored a career-high 14 points on 6-1t0 shooting.
Defense remains MLC’s calling card, however, as the Knights have held league opponents to 32.7 percent shooting and 53.4 points per game while forcing 19.3 turnovers per game. Only two teams have shot better than 35 percent against the Knights in conference play, and the Knights lead the conference in field goal percentage defense.
Series History/Game Notes
- Martin Luther has won four straight against Bethany Lutheran, including last season’s UMAC Tournament semi-final game on February 22 by the score of 69-60.
- Bethany Lutheran currenlty owns the all-time record against Martin Luther, 13-12.
- This is a matchup of the top two overall rebounding teams in the UMAC. Bethany leads with 41.4 rebounds per game with Martin Luther close behind at 41.0 rpg.
- MLC women’s coach Larry Czer became the school’s all-time leader in wins this season. He now has 64 wins for his career, passing the previous record of 62 held by Gene Pfeifer.
- Bethany leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game at 18.1, more than three rebounds better than the next best team in the category, St. Scholastica.
Can't attend the UMAC Game of the Week in person?
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Live Video
Bethany Lutheran Preview |
Martin Luther Recap |
#UMACgotw Final: MLC 64, BLC 57
For information on other contests around the league this week, visit the UMAC
live scoreboard.