Callie Olson (Sr.-Middleton, Wis.) scored a career-high 16 points but the Lakeland College women's basketball team was unable to sustain a hot start and lost to Carthage College 62-54 in the Lakeland Tip-Off Tournament Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies fell in their season opener and the debut for head coach Aaron Nester and dropped into the tourney's consolation game, where they will meet Simpson (Iowa) College on Saturday at 1 p.m. Carthage advanced to the championship game on Saturday, where it will face Nebraska Wesleyan University at 3 p.m. after the Prairie Wolves edged Simpson 60-57 in Friday night's second game.

Lakeland struggled to 29.3% shooting, hitting 17 of 58 from the field. The Muskies were icy cold for much of the night, save for a superb stretch in the first quarter when in a span of four minutes they turned an early five-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

A 17-2 run that included five three-pointers gave Lakeland a 17-7 lead late in the first quarter. Olson came off the bench to hit three triples and scored 11 consecutive points in all, surpassing her collegiate career high in the first quarter alone.

The Muskies were unable to keep that pace, though, and Carthage fought back to take a 28-23 halftime lead. The Lady Reds never trailed in the first half, either, leading 41-32 after three quarters and pushing the margin out to 15 points after Morgan Harris split two free throws to make it 58-43 with 3:09 left in the game.

Lakeland played hard until the end and gave the guests a mild scare in the final minute. Kayla Clark (Jr.-West Bend, Wis.) hit a pair of threes and Miranda Jacobson (Fr.-Felch, Mich.) hit three of four free throws as the Muskies whittled the deficit to single digits before running out of time.

Olson hit 6 of 11 shots from the floor, including 4 of 8 from three-point range. Bailey Grayvold (Jr.-Norway, Mich.) also added 11 points but couldn't get on track from the field, shooting 4 of 13.

Maddy Doll (So.-Florence, Wis.) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Nicole Holstein (Fr.-New Berlin, Wis.) added six boards in eight minutes, all in the second half.

Erin Thomas led Carthage with 21 points and also added eight rebounds, bedeviling the Muskies with three-pointers from well behind the arc as well as slicing drives to the basket. The Lady Reds didn't shoot much better than Lakeland, hitting 31.3% from the field (20 of 64), but finished with a 48-40 rebounding advantage.

In Friday's second game, Nebraska Wesleyan never trailed, building a 15-point lead after one quarter and upping it to 19 points in the second quarter. The Prairie Wolves still led by 17 in the fourth before Simpson made a furious rally, closing within two points with just under two minutes left before NWU held on. Courtney Cook led the winners with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Nebraska Wesleyan finished with a 42-30 lead in rebounds.

Box Score CC 62 LC 54
Box Score NWU 60 SC 57
Tournament Summary