PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team started fast for the second straight game and dominated in nearly every area in defeating Illinois Institute of Technology 89-54 Saturday evening in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.

The Muskies took charge virtually from the tip, scoring the game's first 11 points, and posted a season high with 89 points in their most dominant performance of the season. Lakeland also won for the 10th time in 14 games and is over the .500 mark for the first time this season at 10-9 overall and 8-4 in the NACC.

Ellie Felsinger (Sr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, including six points in the Muskies' 11-0 run over the game's first four minutes. The senior also keyed Lakeland's huge 40-6 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 52-33 rebounding advantage.

Kerstin Sauerbrei (Jr.-Ripon, Wis.) also heated up from three-point range for the second straight game, hitting four triples on her way to 16 points. Sauerbrei's second triple made her the 11th player in program history to hit 100 three-pointers, and she finished the day moving into a tie for ninth with Mary Dennewitz (2007-11) on the Muskies' all-time list with 102 career three-pointers made.

Lakeland finished with a sweep of the teams' season series, having also topped Illinois Tech (5-13 overall, 3-9 NACC) 86-70 in Chicago Jan. 7 with 59.3% shooting. The Muskies this time parlayed their quick start into a 22-7 lead after one quarter, and then fought off a brief IIT three-point barrage of four threes in the second quarter to scored the final nine points of the first half to take a 40-18 lead into halftime.

Lakeland would extend the lead to as much as 33 points in the third quarter after a Sauerbrei three made it 62-29, and plenty of Muskies got into the game in the final period. A total of 14 players scored in the game, including Bree Arsenault (Jr.-Hermansville, Mich.) hitting two three-pointers, A.T. Bartlett (Fr.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) hitting another and Brooke Wayer (Fr.-Pewaukee, Wis.) scoring her first four points of the season.

Lakeland finished shooting 41.9%, making 31 of 74 field goals including 9 of 25 three-point tries (36.0%). The Muskies also frequently displayed crisp passing with 21 assists on 31 made field goals, and also committed just nine turnovers, their third straight game with a single-digit turnover total.

Mackenzie Miller (Fr.-Schoolcraft, Mich.) also pitched in 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots off the bench and Kacey Gardner (Sr.-Evergreen Park, Ill.) finished with five points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Gardner also played a big role in limiting one of the NACC's top scorers in IIT's Julia Bucci to just five points in the first three quarters. Lauren Downs (Sr.-West Bend, Wis.) also added seven points, all while the Muskies were asserting control in the first quarter, plus five rebounds off the bench.

Bucci would score nine points in the final quarter to finish with 14. Kaya Jones also added 14 for the Scarlet Hawks, who shot 28.6% (16 of 56) and committed 19 turnovers.

Lakeland is on the road for its next game Wednesday when it travels to face Wisconsin Lutheran College at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee.