Rachel Stankevich (Fr.-Goodman, Wis.) made a layup as the final buzzer sounded and the Lakeland College women's basketball team won in spectacular fashion again, defeating Benedictine University 63-61 Saturday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies won in the final seconds for the second straight game and Stankevich scored a buzzer-beating basket for the second time in three weeks. Lakeland also clinched a spot in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament by beating one of the best teams in the conference, as Benedictine came into the game in second place in the conference.

The Muskies (10-14 overall, 9-10 NACC) had to travel 60 feet in 1.2 seconds to score the winning basket. Lakeland inbounded from the right sideline in its backcourt after a timeout, and Mikayla Hilton (So.-Port Washington, Wis.) threw a 55-foot baseball pass to Stankevich, who was behind the Benedictine defense. An Eagle defender tipped the pass slightly, but the ball went right to Stankevich, who gathered herself and laid the ball in over the front of the rim just before the buzzer went off.

The Muskies were only in position to take a last shot after denying Benedictine (15-9 overall, 15-4 NACC) a chance to win the game in the final seconds. The Eagles forced a shot clock violation with 8.1 seconds left to get possession, but lost control of the ball while trying to go the length of the court.

Bailey Grayvold (So.-Norway, Mich.) was able to dive on the loose ball and got a timeout called, giving Lakeland one final chance. The final defensive stand was similar to three nights earlier, when Trista Barron (Jr.-Escanaba, Mich.) stole the ball against Marian, allowing Grayvold to hit two free throws for the winning points in a 69-67 win over the Sabres.

The Muskies earned the win in a game they led for the entire second half, only to see Benedictine nearly steal it away. Lakeland took the lead late in the first half, led 28-25 at halftime and went ahead by as many as 12 points in the second half, the last time when Stankevich hit a short jumper for a 43-31 advantage with 11:00 to play.

The Eagles continued to peck away, though, and finally made it a one possession game when Shannon Ryan hit two free throws to make it 55-53 with 3:14 left. After a timeout, the Muskies offered some foreshadowing of the finish when Hilton threw a 70-foot pass over the defense to Stankevich, who chased it down and scored. Benedictine did not go away, though, and finally tied it at 61-61 on a layup by DeKayla Crayton with 40 seconds left.

Barron and Grayvold both scored 18 points to lead Lakeland, while Stankevich added 12 points and seven rebounds. The Muskies shot 42.9% (18 of 42) and 21 of 30 at the free throw line (70.0%).

Lakeland held Benedictine to 40.7% shooting (22 of 54) and overcame the Eagles' 41-23 rebounding advantage by forcing 21 turnovers. Crayton scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles, who were 0 of 7 from three-point range but converted 17 of 20 from the foul line.

The Muskies are currently seventh in the NACC standings, one game behind Edgewood College for sixth. Lakeland will have an opportunity to move up into a tie for sixth and to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NACC Tournament, though, when it hosts Edgewood on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in both teams' regular season finale. This will be the two teams' first and only regular season meeting, so the Muskies will clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker if they can force a tie between the teams in the final standings.