AURORA, Ill. – Bethany Dorrington hit seven three-pointers for Aurora (Ill.) University and the Lakeland College women's basketball team fell behind early in a 77-68 loss Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.

Aurora scored the game's first 10 points and the Muskies were in the chase mode the rest of the way, never leading in dropping to 1-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The host Spartans improved to 3-4 overall and also are 2-1 in the NACC.

Aurora scored on its first four trips down the court for a 10-0 lead just 2:29 into the contest. Dorrington hit the first of her seven three-pointers and Anna Roszkowski grabbed rebounds twice and scored in the quick run.

Lakeland chipped away the rest of the first quarter and got within three points on four occasions, the last after a three-pointer by Bailey Grayvold (Jr.-Norway, Mich.) made it 23-20 with 51 seconds left in the period. The Muskies' pursuit would continue for the rest of the game though, as they never got closer even while hanging around much of the afternoon.

Aurora led 47-39 at halftime, but Lakeland got back within four early in the second half after a three-pointer by Kayla Clark (Jr.-West Bend, Wis.) made it 50-46. The Spartans still led 61-52 after three quarters and then used an 8-2 run early in the fourth quarter to take their largest lead at 69-54 with 7:59 left.

Grayvold scored 16 points and added six rebounds for the Muskies, who shot 35.3% (24 of 68). Clark added 15 points and five rebounds, Trista Barron (Sr.-Escanaba, Mich.) scored a season-high 13 points and Rachel Stankevich (So.-Goodman, Wis.) added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Dorrington was 7 of 11 from three-point range on her way to 21 points for Aurora. Roszkowski added 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and the Spartans shot 50.9% for the game (28 of 55).

The Muskies are in action again Tuesday night when they host Concordia University Wisconsin at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.