Wisconsin Lutheran College outscored the Lakeland College women's basketball team 12-2 to close out the second quarter, and it proved to be the difference in the Muskies' 55-46 loss Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Warriors' second-quarter supremacy was the main difference in an otherwise tight game, but left the Muskies in catch-up mode the rest of the way. Lakeland could never quite recover against the five-time defending Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular season and tournament champions, dropping to 2-7 overall this season and 2-3 in conference play.
A rugged game with few fouls saw the Muskies shoot 32.0% (16 of 50) but lead briefly early and never lose contact with the visitors, even after WLC (7-3 overall, 5-0 NACC) closed the second quarter strong.
The score was tied 9-9 after one quarter and was knotted again at 12-12 after
Trista Barron (
Sr.-Escanaba, Mich.) converted a three-point play with 7:29 left in the first half. The Warriors held Lakeland to just two points the rest of the second quarter, though, and a three-pointer by Wynonah Filla with seven seconds left in the half gave Wisconsin Lutheran a 24-14 hafltime lead.
The Warriors were unable to shake the Muskies, building the lead no higher than 13 in the second half. Lakeland closed to within seven points on four different occasions in the final 20 minutes, including when
Callie Olson (
Sr.-Middleton, Wis.) hit a three-pointer to make it 50-43 with 5:09 left. The Muskies were held to three points the rest of the way, though, missing seven of their final eight field goal attempts.
Barron scored 13 points to lead Lakeland offensively, while
Bailey Grayvold (
Jr.-Norway, Mich.) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Jessica Beaudry (
Fr.-Gladstone, Mich.) chipped in nine points and six rebounds and
Maddy Doll (
So.-Florence, Wis.) also added six points, five rebounds and five blocked shots.
Karisa Pedersen led Wisconsin Lutheran with 14 points, including four three-pointers. The Warriors shot 40.4% (23 of 57) and hit 8 of 21 from three-point range.
Lakeland now has a break for Christmas and will not play again until it travels to take on Finlandia (Mich.) University in Hancock, Mich., on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. Central time.
