CHICAGO – Kacey Gardner (Sr.-Evergreen Park, Ill.) notched her fifth double-double of the season and the Lakeland University women's basketball team defeated Illinois Institute of Technology 66-50 Saturday afternoon at IIT's Keating Sports Center.

Gardner finished with team highs of 13 points and 14 rebounds and the Muskies slowly pulled away to defeat the Scarlet Hawks for the second time in seven days. Lakeland improved to 5-5 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and inched back over the .500 mark for the season at 9-8 overall.

The Muskies never trailed but needed time to shake Illinois Tech (4-13 overall, 1-10 NACC), which trailed by just five points late in the second quarter. Lakeland finished the first half on an 11-4 run to go ahead 35-23 by halftime and then outscored the Scarlet Hawks 21-12 in the third quarter to gain some distance on the hosts.

The Muskies shot 35.4% for the game (23 of 65) but were at their best in the third quarter, making 8 of 16 shots. Lakeland never led by less than ten in the second half and took its largest lead at 53-31 on an offensive rebound and putback by Gardner with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the third period.

Gardner's 14 boards were her second-highest total of the season and keyed a big 49-32 rebounding advantage for the Muskies. Included in their total was 16 offensive rebounds, including five by Ellie Felsinger (Jr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.), and Lakeland turned that into a 14-0 advantage in second chance points.

Felsinger added nine points and seven rebounds as part of a balanced attack in which 11 of the 12 to play scored at least two points for the Muskies. Alexa Yost (So.-Menasha, Wis.) scored nine points, Morgan Zenon (Sr.-Twin Lakes, Wis.) added eight points and five rebounds off the bench and Sydney Walker (So.-Flint, Mich.) added seven points.

Lakeland also produced its best free throw shooting of the season. The Muskies made 18 of 20 foul shots (90.0%), including 10 of 11 in the first half.

Deriniece Moton led Illinois Tech with a game-high 19 points and Julia Bucci added 16 points. The Scarlet Hawks finished shooting 32.1% (18 of 56).

Lakeland now gets ready to host nationally ranked and undefeated Wisconsin Lutheran College Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.