FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Junior Nicole Paulus scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed five rebounds but Wisconsin Lutheran raced past Marian 68-45 Wednesday evening at Sadoff Gymnasium.

WLC opened up a 13-2 first quarter lead and the Sabres were left playing catch up the rest of the evening.

Sophomore Hunter Godfroy hit a jumper at 8:23 in the second quarter to bring the Sabres to within seven at 21-14. However, from there the Warriors closed out the second quarter on a 16-4 run and went into the break with a 37-20 lead.

Neither team found success using the 3-pointer. The Sabres finished the evening shooting 22.2 percent (4-of-18) and the Warriors connected on 25 percent (4-of-16) of their shots from beyond the arc.

The Warriors won the battle in the paint. WLC outrebounded MU 39-30 and outscored the Sabres 34-24 in the paint.

As a team WLC shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field, while MU struggled to find a groove and connected on 32.2 percent (19-of-59) of its attempts.

Brittany Bauman scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.

Jen Dowden scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Warriors (15-5, 13-2 NACC).

MU (5-15, 3-12 NACC) returns to the hardwood Saturday at Concordia Chicago.