PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Brianna Jones (Jr.-Indianapolis, Ind.) set career highs with 16 points and 15 rebounds in her first career double-double and the Lakeland University women's basketball team never trailed in a 65-50 win over Marian University Tuesday night.

The Muskies gained an important Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win at home, improving to 11-10 overall and 7-7 in the NACC with three conference games to play. Lakeland remains in eighth place in the conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee School of Engineering in the battle for a top-eight seed to ensure at least one home game in the NACC tourney.

Jones scored in double figures for the second time in her career, making 6 of 11 shots from the field and 4 of 8 from the foul line. She also set a career high against Marian (6-15 overall, 4-11 NACC) for the second time this season, having pulled down 14 boards against the Sabres in the teams' first meeting two weeks earlier.

Lakeland also had one of its better shooting nights of the season, shooting 42.9% for the game (24 of 56), including 9 of 21 from three-point range. The Muskies started strong, making 7 of 13 shots in the opening quarter against the Marian zone including 4 of 6 from long range, and took an early 18-6 lead after a three by Lauren Downs (Jr.-West Bend, Wis.). Downs scored eight points in the first quarter and 14 in the game, tying her season high set Saturday against Rockford University.

The Muskies would lead by as many as 14 early in the second quarter and took a 30-20 lead into halftime as the cold-shooting Sabres made just 8 of 30 shots in the first half (26.7%). Lakeland continued to hold a steady lead in the third quarter and took its largest lead of the game at 50-34 with 2.6 seconds left in the period on a free throw by Sydney Walker (So.-Flint, Mich.).

Marian made a push in the fourth quarter, closing within 52-44 with 5:32 left on a three-pointer by Paris Harris. Those points were the only ones of the game for the Sabres' leading scorer, though, as she was held nearly 11 points under her season average of 13.9 per game coming in and would foul out 29 seconds later when Kacey Gardner (Sr.-Evergreen Park, Ill.) scored, was fouled and converted the three-point play. Marian would get no closer the rest of the way, making just two field goals in the final five minutes.

Kerstin Sauerbrei (So.-Ripon, Wis.) also scored 14 points for Lakeland, and her and Downs both made four three-pointers each. Walker also added eight points off the bench and Ellie Felsinger (Jr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) finished with eight rebounds. The Muskies finished with a healthy 48-35 rebounding advantage and also posted a 26-7 advantage in points from the bench.

Sierra Strope-Robinson led Marian with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Brianna Martin also added 13 points plus a game-high four steals. The Sabres finished shooting 29.7% (19 of 64), including Harris making 1 of 12 shots from the field before fouling out.

The Muskies next go on the road for a pair of games this weekend, beginning Friday against Aurora University at 5 p.m. in Aurora, Ill., in a game rescheduled from Jan. 15.