FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SabreAthetics.com) – The Marian University women's basketball team fell just shy of upsetting the reigning Northern Athletics Conference champions and this year's preseason favorite to win it again, Wisconsin Lutheran College, as the Warriors outlasted the Sabres for a 78-72 win inside Sadoff Gymnasium this afternoon, Nov. 26.

The Sabres took a 41-40 lead into the break behind 13 first half points from junior forward Elizabeth Zutz and led by as many as five points just before halftime. The Sabres took a 72-71 lead before the resilient and talented squad of the Warriors rallied off seven straight points to close out the game.

Wisconsin Lutheran improves to 2-1 on the season, 1-0 in the NAC, while the Sabres suffer their first loss of the year, falling to 3-1 (0-1 NAC).

Zutz paced Marian in the early goings of each half, scoring nine of the first 11 points in the game and the first six points to start the second half. But foul trouble prevented her from doing even more damage, as the junior fouled out with 9:39 left on the clock.

Against a big front line of Wisconsin Lutheran, senior Alexis Becker did all she could, falling a rebound shy of a double-double, while adding 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.

Leading all scorer was Rachel Johnson of WLC, who scored 26 points and hauled in 12 rebounds to lead the Warriors to the win. Katelyn Kuehl and Shavon Dillon added 11 points apiece for visitors as well.

There were 50 combined fouls in the contest and nearly 70 free throws attempted. Free throws enabled the Sabres to take a narrow one point lead into the break as they went 13-for-17 in the opening frame, compared to just 8-of-16 for the Warriors. But the same can be said for WLC in the second half, as they responded with a 13-for-21 effort at the charity stripe to finish 21-of-37 for the game. The Sabres connected on 23-of-31 free throws in their own right.

The Sabres will next take on Concordia Wisconsin at home on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Tip-Off is slated for 7 p.m.