STEVENS POINT – A cold first half was too much to overcome as the Lakeland University women's basketball team last for the first time this season, dropping a 58-44 decision to UW-Stevens Point Tuesday night in a non-conference game.
The Muskies made just 7 of their first 25 shots and were as low as 25.9% into the third quarter, falling into a 25-point hole. Lakeland did warm up late in rallying to make the score respectable late but still dropped to 2-1 this season.
The strong Pointers of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference held a solid advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Muskies 40-28, including 16 offensive rebounds. UW-Stevens Point also forced Lakeland into 26 turnovers.
The game turned at the end of the first quarter when UWSP (3-1 overall) scored 14 straight points over the final 4 minutes, 10 seconds, turning a 7-7 tie into a 21-7 lead at the end of the quarter. The Pointers pushed the lead to 33-15 at halftime and then added seven straight to start the second half for their largest lead at 40-15.
Lakeland did not give up, and a 9-0 spurt in the third quarter including six points from
Miranda Jacobson (
Jr.-Felch, Mich.) cut the deficit to 42-28 with still 2:42 left in the quarter. The Pointers regrouped, though, and never let the Muskies get closer than 14 the rest of the game.
Jacobson and Rachel Stankevich (Sr.-Goodman, Wis.) both scored 12 points each to lead Lakeland, which finished shooting 36.0% (18 of 50).
Katie West (
Fr.-Oak Creek, Wis.) also added eight points and four rebounds off the bench, while
Maddy Doll (
Sr.-Florence, Wis.) and
Amanda Majewski (
So.-Peshtigo, Wis.) both had four assists each.
Carly Cerrato scored 11 points off the bench to lead UWSP, which shot 40.7% (22 of 54). Mickey Roland added 10 rebounds.
Both teams also struggled from three-point range, with the Muskies hitting 3 of 16 (18.8%) and the Pointers making 2 of 14 (14.3%).
Lakeland next will face Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday for a big Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener that is a rematch of the NACC Tournament title game won by the Muskies last season. Game time at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium is 4:15 p.m.
