MADISON, Wis. – Several superb individual performances and one outstanding quarter provided the Lakeland College women's basketball team the fuel it needed for its first win of the season, a 54-38 victory over Edgewood College Saturday afternoon at the Todd Wehr Edgedome.
The Muskies won their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener and also earned the first win for first-year coach
Aaron Nester. Lakeland improved to 1-4 overall and also defeated Edgewood for the first time since Nov. 2013.
The Muskies took over the game by outscoring the Eagles (1-3 overall, 0-2 NACC) 21-2 in the second quarter. Edgewood shot 1-for-9 from the field and turned the ball over eight times in the period, while Lakeland scored on seven straight trips down the court in taking a commanding lead.
The Muskies eventually led by as many as 23 points early in the third quarter, though the Eagles had a run in them. Edgewood scored 14 consecutive points over a span of 6:07 to cut the lead to 45-38, but Lakeland held the hosts scoreless for the game's final 5:35.
Kayla Clark (
Jr.-West Bend, Wis.) led the Muskies with 14 points and four assists, including four three-pointers.
Bailey Grayvold (
Jr.-Norway, Mich.) added 13 points and made 7 of 7 free throw attempts.
Lakeland also owned the paint area with
Rachel Stankevich (
So.-Goodman, Wis.) and
Maddy Doll (
So.-Florence, Wis.). Stankevich scored eight points and added a game-high 11 rebounds plus four steals, while Doll scored five points and added nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots.
The Muskies shot 32.7% (18 of 55) and 10 of 13 from the free throw line (76.9%). Lakeland also held a 16-6 advantage in points in the paint and scored 20 points off 22 Eagles turnovers.
Zoey Dougherty led Edgewood with 11 points. The Eagles shot 25.0% for the game, making 11 of 44 shots.
The Muskies are in action again next Saturday when they travel to face Aurora (Ill.) University at 4:15 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's teams, which begins at 2 p.m.