DECORAH, Iowa - The Luther women's basketball team lost to St. Mary's (MN) 68-65. The Norse were went into halftime with the lead 33-23. St. Mary's outscored Luther 25-12 in the third quarter and in the second half (45-32) to secure the win.

Late in the fourth quarter with 2:20 remaining in the contest, Haylie Strum knocked in a pair of free throws making it a one possession game (62-64). The Cardinals closed the game on a 4-3 run and while the Norse had the last second shot it was off the mark. 

Strum recorded her third game with 20 or more points this season as she was 7-12 from the floor. Nataile Beaver followed with 15 points and Abigail Panka with 12 points. Katie Hardtke led the team in rebounds with nine. The Norse scored 36 of their total points in the paint while shooting 42.6 percent for the game. 

The top players for St. Mary's were Ayla Olson with 22 points and Rylie Sternquist with 13. The Cardinals also led the rebounds statistic 43-32.

St. Mary's improves to 9-1 overall while Luther is now 5-5. 

Up next Luther returns to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at home vs Carthage College at 2 p.m. This will be the final non-conference game of the season.