Marian University Sabres (5-12 overall, 4-6 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (8-9 overall, 6-4 NACC)
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023Â Â 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/Marian Game Notes  PDF
Old rivals meet for the first time this season and the first of two matchups in a two-week span when the Lakeland University women's basketball team hosts Marian University Wednesday night.
Broadcast Information:
Live video & live statistics:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Andy Damp is again calling the play-by-play for all Lakeland home basketball games this year.
Series history:Â The Muskies and Sabres are longtime rivals whose history goes back to Lakeland's early years playing the sport in the 1970s and who have played each other regularly since the days of the Lake Michigan Conference. Complete records are unavailable, but in known contests Lakeland holds a 66-16 advantage in 82 meetings. The teams split a pair of matchups last year, with the Muskies winning the most recent 65-50 Feb. 8, 2022 at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. Just two weeks earlier, the Sabres defeated Lakeland 66-62 at home, their first win over the Muskies since 2014 and snapping a 13-game losing streak in the series. Even with Marian's win last year, the Muskies still have won 54 of the last 59 versus the Sabres.
Lakeland last time out: Lost at Edgewood 89-79 Saturday
The Muskies engaged in a high-scoring, high-level game with the Eagles and played well, shooting 47.9% and totaling their second-highest point total of the season. Edgewood was even better, though, hitting 55.9% of its shots after sitting around 60% for most of the game, and Paige Banks scored a career-high 29 points to lead the host Eagles in a game for position in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings.
Mackenzie Miller (19 points) and
Ellie Felsinger (18) combined for 37 points in the post for Lakeland and
Kacey Gardner came near a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
The 79 points scored were the fourth-most ever scored in a loss in Lakeland women's basketball history and the third-most ever in a regulation game. It was the most points since an 87-82 loss at Concordia Chicago exactly six years earlier, and the Muskies also scored 80 points in a 95-80 loss at Mount Mary Feb. 7, 1984, and 84 points in an 85-84 overtime loss to Grace (Ind.) Dec. 19, 1987.
Marian last time out: Won at Illinois Tech 80-56 Saturday
The Sabres dominated on the road in Chicago to even more of an extent than the final score showed. Marian led 23-7 after one quarter, 39-16 at halftime and 66-26 after three quarters, eventually leading by as many as 43 points before IIT scored more than half of its point total in the last 10 minutes. The Sabres played one of their best games of the season, shooting 47.8% from the field and posting a season high for points while also holding the Scarlet Hawks to 32.8% shooting for the game, including 20.8% over the first three quarters. Paris Harris scored 16 points and Kiara Williams added 11 points plus 18 rebounds.
About the Sabres: Marian enters two games behind Lakeland in the NACC standings and has won three of its last five games after having lost its previous seven games. The Sabres have a young team with two seniors, one junior and the rest of the squad comprised of freshmen and sophomores. Josh Ward is in his first year as head coach and is a former D-III head coach at SUNY Canton who most recently was an assistant coach at Albion (Mich.).
