The Lakeland University women's basketball team used a big rebounding margin for numerous second and third chances on the offensive end and eventually pulled away to defeat Illinois Institute of Technology 77-47 Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies finished with 25 offensive rebounds as part of a 54-36 rebounding advantage and outscored the Scarlet Hawks 45-23 in the second half for a second straight comfortable victory to start the season. Lakeland has won its first two games of the season for the first time since 2009-10, when it opened with nine straight victories and eventually qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Muskies had 12 offensive rebounds in the first quarter alone, when they built a 12-0 lead before Illinois Tech (0-2 overall) could get on the board. The Scarlet Hawks eventually settled in and stayed within 32-21 at halftime, but Lakeland opened it up soon in the second half and led by as many as 37 in the fourth quarter.

Maddy Doll (Sr.-Florence, Wis.) scored 14 points and added a career-high 13 rebounds and Miranda Jacobson (Jr.-Felch, Mich.) added eight rebounds, part of an outstanding all-around game that also included 15 points and a team-best six assists. Rachel Stankevich (Sr.-Goodman, Wis.) also added seven boards, moving into 10th place on Lakeland's all-time rebounding list with 582 rebounds, surpassing the 577 of Steph Sprenger (1993-96).

The hosts also held a big advantage in turnover margin, as IIT committed 34 turnovers to the Muskies' 15. Lakeland also totaled 24 steals, including four each by Asia Danforth (Jr.-Seymour, Wis.) and Janai' Farr (Racine, Wis.).

Amanda Majewski (So.-Peshtigo, Wis.) scored a career-high 16 points, including 13 in the second half to help Lakeland pull away. She made four three-pointers, part of the nine triples the Muskies made for the game.

Lakeland shot 36.1% for the game, making 30 of 83 shots, and the Muskies finished with 38 more field goal attempts than IIT due to their huge advantages in forcing turnovers and offensive rebounding.

The Scarlet Hawks made 35.6% of their shots (16 of 45) and were led by Erin Efimoff with 15 points. Madison Davis also added 11 points off the bench. Illinois Tech is completing its transition to full NCAA Division III membership and will join Lakeland as a member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in the 2018-19 school year.

The Muskies now head on the road for their next game Tuesday to face the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 7 p.m. in Stevens Point.