Lakeland University Muskies (2-3 overall, 1-3 NACC North)
at Edgewood College Eagles (6-3 overall, 5-0 NACC North)
Friday, Feb. 19, 2021 7 p.m.
Todd Wehr Edgedome
Madison, Wis.
Lakeland/Edgewood Game Notes PDF
From taking on a perennial conference power to the defending conference champions, the Lakeland University women's basketball team continues a tough Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division schedule when it travels to face Edgewood College this weekend in Madison.
Fan attendance policy: Under current COVID-19 protocols, Edgewood College is not allowing any spectators at home games in the Todd Wehr Edgedome.
Broadcast Information: Live video will be available at
https://edgewoodcollegeeagles.com/watch. Live statistics will be at
https://edgewoodcollegeeagles.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary.
Series history: The series between Lakeland and Edgewood goes back to Lakeland's early years of playing women's basketball. Complete series records are unavailable, but in known meetings the Muskies hold a 40-26 all-time series lead. The Eagles have won the last four matchups with back-to-back season sweeps, though, including a 70-52 victory at Lakeland Nov. 23, 2019 and a 78-61 win in the teams' most recent meeting over a year ago on Jan. 30, 2020. Prior to Edgewood's recent success, the Muskies had won six straight over the Eagles, including most recently a 63-54 win at home Jan. 16, 2018.
Lakeland last time out: Lost to Wisconsin Lutheran 70-50 Saturday
Megan Will became the 14th player in program history to score 1,000 points, but WLC got off to a fast start on the way to sweeping the teams' two-game weekendseries. The outscored Lakeland 23-5 in the first period, and though the Muskies settled down to outscore WLC 33-25 over the second and third quarters, but the guests made two three-pointers early in the final period and led by double-digits the rest of the way.
Kacey Gardner led Lakeland with 11 points total and added four rebounds and three steals in the loss.
Hayley Walding also came off the bench to score 10 points and Will added a team-high nine rebounds.
Edgewood last time out: Lost at #5 Wartburg 73-53 Friday
The Eagles traveled to Waverly, Iowa, for the second time this season to face the nationally-ranked Wartburg Knights. The two teams played each other evenly at first, with Wartburg leading by a slim 34-32 margin at the half, but poor shooting and turnovers spelled defeat for Edgewood. The Eagles shot 36.5% (19 of 52) from the field and committed 22 turnovers in the loss. Bria Lemirande notched a double-double to lead the Eagles with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Alyssa Lemirande and Paige Banks both added 11 points.
About the Eagles: Edgewood has played nine games, tied with Concordia Wisconsin for the most of any NACC school so far, and the Eagles were the only conference school to play games in the first semester. Edgewood is coming off a breakthrough season last year when it finished 25-3 and won the NACC Tournament title for its first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament since 2005. The Eagles set a school record for wins, completing a four-year rise under coach Chaia Huff from 0-25 in her first year to the top of the conference. All five starters and just about every rotation player return from that team, and Edgewood has won all five of its conference games so far.
Schedule scramble: Lakeland and Edgewood are back to their originally scheduled dates of Feb. 19-20 after trying unsuccessfully to play one of the games Feb. 7. Lakeland also has an updated schedule with NACC foe Alverno, as the series originally scheduled for Feb. 5-6 will now take place Feb. 23-24 in Milwaukee. That series makes the Muskies' week a busy one as Lakeland will play four games in five games, with a homestand against Marian also coming Feb. 26-27.
Special club: Megan Will reached the 1,000-point mark for her career Saturday against Wisconsin Lutheran, but she also hit another career milestone against the Warriors. In Friday's game, Will recorded the 150th block in her Muskies career, becoming just the second in school history to reach that mark. Will also is the first to reach 1,000 points and 150 blocks in program history.
