PLYMOUTH, Wis. – A sluggish start proved to be too much to overcome for the Lakeland University women's basketball team in its return from a long layoff as Concordia University Wisconsin led from start to finish and defeated the Muskies 68-51 Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Lindsey Smitsdorff finished with 19 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots for the visiting Falcons, who won the latest installment of the long-running rivalry between Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference foes in both teams' first game of 2022. Concordia also got a leg up on Lakeland in the conference standings, improving to 5-1 in the NACC (6-4 overall) while the Muskies dropped to 3-2 in conference and 7-5 overall.
Lakeland saw its four-game winning streak snapped, its first game in 17 days a struggle from an ice-cold start in the first quarter. The Muskies made just 2 of 21 shots in falling behind 13-4 after one period, and though able to hang around the rest of the game were never able to make a serious dent into that deficit again.
Concordia held a double-digit lead most of the final three quarters and led 35-23 at halftime, matching Lakeland even as the Muskies heated up and made 8 of 21 shots in the second quarter. The Falcons then pushed the lead to 50-32 late in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Aubrey Buchholtz before Lakeland made a run at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Muskies went on an 11-2 run to get within 52-43 after a layup by
Alexa Yost (
So.-Menasha, Wis.), and the teams traded baskets with
Sydney Walker (
So.-Flint, Mich.) scoring on a rebound putback with 4:43 to play. Lakeland would get no closer though, scoring just two points over the next 3:37 as CUW put the game away. The Falcons led by as many as 19 points late, making 11 of 14 free throws in the final quarter to close the game.
The Muskies finished shooting 27.6% for the game, making 21 of 76 shots, including 2 of 18 from three-point range. Concordia also finished with a 50-39 rebounding advantage, though Lakeland pulled down 18 offensive rebounds, a big part in allowing the Muskies to finish with 24 more field goal attempts than the Falcons.
Morgan Zenon (
Sr.-Twin Lakes, Wis.) led Lakeland with 12 points and added four rebounds and Yost added 10 points plus four steals.
Ellie Felsinger (
Jr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) also added nine points and nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards, and Walker contributed eight points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals off the bench.
Smitsdorff made 8 of 14 shots for Concordia, which shot 42.3% (22 of 52) and made 20 of 24 free throw attempts (83.3%). Camryn Szolyga added 14 points and seven rebounds and Lindsey Lonigro and Reagan Obry added 13 points each.
Lakeland is back in action again Saturday and concludes a five-game homestand when it hosts Illinois Institute of Technology at 2 p.m. at the Woltzen Gymnasium.
