STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team made a big charge in the fourth quarter, cutting a 17-point deficit to four before succumbing to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 57-50 Wednesday night.

The Muskies came close but just missed out on duplicating their win over the Pointers a year earlier. Lakeland also dropped to 0-4 against an early season gauntlet of a schedule that now has included three losses by single-digit point totals.

Lakeland trailed 44-27 going into the final quarter after UW-Stevens Point (3-1 overall) finished the third quarter on a 13-2 run over the final six minutes. The Muskies had struggled from the field to that point, making 8 of 39 shots through three periods (20.5%), but heated up quickly in the fourth.

Lakeland got back into the game with a 16-3 run which included six points from Janai' Farr (Jr.-Racine, Wis.) and six more from Megan Will (Jr.-Lake Mills, Wis.), whose basket with 4:40 left cut the Pointers' lead to 47-43. The Muskies would cut the deficit back down to four on two occasions but would get no closer, and UWSP closed the game making eight straight free throws in the final 1:14.

Lakeland made 8 of 17 shots in the final quarter, finishing the game at 28.6% (16 of 56). The Muskies played from behind almost the whole game, leading 2-0 briefly in the opening minutes before the Pointers took the lead and led 10-6 after one quarter.

The Muskies never fell far behind in the first half, though, and trailed 25-20 at halftime on the strength of five three-pointers, including two by Amanda Majewski (Sr.-Peshtigo, Wis.). UWSP made 7 of 12 shots in the third quarter, though, outscoring Lakeland 19-7 in the period to take its largest lead of the game on a layup by Jordyn Ellis with six seconds left in the quarter.

Majewski and Will both scored 10 points each to lead the Muskies, and Majewski paced Lakeland with seven rebounds while Will added six blocked shots. Farr also added nine points off the bench, where Lakeland finished with a 22-17 advantage in bench points. Kacey Gardner (So-Evergreen Park, Ill.) also added seven points plus a game-high four assists.

Kellan Schmidt led a balanced attack for UW-Stevens Point with 10 points. The Pointers shot 43.2% (19 of 44) and outrebounded Lakeland 43-24, but UWSP also committed 24 turnovers to the Muskies' 13.

The Muskies are back home Saturday when they open Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play against Edgewood College at 2 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.