The combination of a pair of sharpshooters and a tough defense paid some big dividends for the HU women's basketball team Wednesday night. Chan'el Anderson-Manning poured in 16 points and Reilly Geistfeld added 15 as the Pipers broke away in the second quarter and went on to defeat Martin Luther, 73-40, in New Ulm. Anderson-Manning and Geistfeld also controlled the boards, leading all comers with 10 and nine rebounds respectively to help the Pipers improve to 4-2 overall. The four wins matches their 2018-19 output just ahead of opening conference play this weekend. 

Anderson-Manning corralled 10 points and half dozen boards as Hamline sprinted to a 32-15 intermission bulge. MLC was leading 8-7 with 4:37 to play in the opening period. It would be nine minutes before the Knights would score again. By that time, Hamline led 16-8. The Knights cut the margin to five at 10-15 but the Pipers rattled off the last dozen points of the half. A 21-5 advantage in the third quarter settled the issue for good. 

In addition to Anderson-Manning and Geistfeld, Kaeli Stayer added 11 points. Morgen Coleman was the top helper with four assists. The Pipers were ballhawking all night as well. Anderson-Manning's six thefts led the 25 HU accrued for the night. The freshman's total of 23 leads the MIAC. The Pipers' team average of 15.8 steals per game ranks second in the conference. 

HU now starts MIAC play with a pair of home games. Concordia visits Hutton Arena on Saturday, December 1 for a 1:00 p.m. game. Augsburg will make the trek across the river on Saturday, December 5 for a 7:00 p.m. affair.