MILWAUKEE – Rachel Stankevich (Jr.-Goodman, Wis.) just missed out on a triple-double and the Lakeland University women's basketball team stayed right in the thick of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference race with an 83-74 win at Alverno College Saturday night.

Stankevich piled up huge numbers with 22 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and five steals as the Muskies improved to 14-4 in conference play heading into two huge games next week. Lakeland is now tied with Wisconsin Lutheran College for third in the NACC going into a meeting with the Warriors at home on Wednesday, and the Muskies also still have a game left against the second-place Benedictine (Ill.) University team that is currently one game ahead.

Lakeland defeated Alverno (10-13 overall, 10-8 NACC) for the second time this year with one of its best offensive performances of the season. The Muskies shot 51.6% for the game (33 of 64), including better than 50% in both halves, and had the answer every time Alverno got close.

The hosts knocked a nine-point deficit down to one at the end of the third quarter, but Lakeland used a 10-2 burst early in the fourth to regain control. Bailey Grayvold (Sr.-Norway, Mich.) scored seven of her 18 points in that run, capping it with a three-pointer that resulted in a 69-60 lead.

Alverno still wasn't done, and seven straight points cut the Muskies' lead back down to two. The teams then traded baskets, but Maddy Doll (Jr.-Florence, Wis.) then scored four straight points and Stankevich also added a basket and a free throw for a 78-69 lead, a spell that also included the Inferno missing four straight shots.

Lakeland led 39-35 after a back-and-forth first half where Stankevich scored 16 points and the Muskies warmed up after an early six-point deficit. Lakeland led for all of the second quarter and held a 10-point lead before Alverno hit a pair of three-pointers just before halftime to slice into the lead.

Along with Stankevich and Grayvold, Doll also added 14 points and six rebounds, while Kayla Clark (Sr.-West Bend, Wis.) also scored 11 points. Miranda Jacobson (So.-Felch, Mich.) also pulled down 10 rebounds and added four assists.

Alverno shot 39.7% (27 of 68) but pounded the glass for 16 offensive rebounds and had all five starters score in double figures. Karli Selear led the Inferno with 18 points, but the hosts were just 12 of 26 from the free throw line (46.2%).

Lakeland will meet Wisconsin Lutheran on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. It will be Senior Night for three Muskies players: Clark, Grayvold and Brooke Wilder-Corrigan (Lake Linden, Mich.).