PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Edgewood College showed the form that has made it one of the top teams in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in recent years, shooting a season-best 56.9% from the field to defeat the Lakeland University women's basketball team 85-56 Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The talented Eagles continued to heat up while the Muskies dropped their third straight game in the new year, falling to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in conference. Edgewood improved to 5-10 overall and 5-3 in the NACC with its fifth straight conference win.
Edgewood never trailed in the game, shot better than 50% in both halves and finished making 29 of 51 shots from the field. The Eagles were even better from three-point range, draining 13 of 19 from distance (68.8%).
Lakeland was able to hang with the Eagles for a half before its struggles from the field became too much to overcome. The Muskies made 21 of 68 shots (30.9%), as well as 4 of 26 from three-point range, including 0 of 13 in the second half.
Edgewood led 16-9 after one quarter and built a 19-point lead in the second period when Eden Bonser hit a three-pointer making it 35-16 with four minutes left in the first half. Lakeland had a glimmer of hope with a late run capped by two
Kacey Gardner (
Sr.-Evergreen Park, Ill.) free throws to close within 37-28, but Emma Klein hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the half to give the Eagles a 40-28 halftime lead.
Edgewood continued to build the lead in the third quarter, going ahead by as much as 23 and leading 56-37 at the end of the period, and Lakeland got no closer than 16 in the final quarter. The Eagles finished the game strong, including a late 17-1 run, and led by as many as 32.
Ellie Felsinger (
Jr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) led Lakeland with 12 points and added seven rebounds.
Lauren Downs (
Jr.-West Bend, Wis.) scored 10 points and
Alexa Yost (
So.-Menasha, Wis.) added eight points.
Brianna Jones (
Jr.-Indianapolis, Ind.) also added seven rebounds.
Abby Shane scored 18 points and hit 4 of 5 from three-point range to lead four Edgewood players scoring in double figures. Klein added 16 points, Diamond Pikulyk scored 14 and added six rebounds and Eden Bonser added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench. The Eagles also posted a 42-32 rebounding advantage, assisted on 22 of their 29 shots and made 14 of 17 free throw attempts (82.4%).
The Muskies are back in action tomorrow when they host Illinois Institute of Technology at 2 p.m. at the Woltzen Gymnasium in the makeup of a game originally scheduled for Jan. 8.
