ASHLAND, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team gave
Ashley Lona her first career win as a head coach and bounced back from a season-opening loss with authority in trouncing Northland College 81-31 Saturday afternoon in northern Wisconsin.
The Muskies shot 50% from the field and dominated almost from the start in improving to 1-1 on the season. All 14 players in uniform scored as a young Lakeland team showed progress, rebounding nicely from a loss to Carthage College in its opener Wednesday to dominate a LumberJills team playing in its own season debut Saturday.
The Muskies took control of the game with a 20-0 run in the first half over a span of just over even minutes. Eight different players scored in the stretch, including
Meghan McPhee (
Fr.-Marquette, Mich.) hitting a rebound putback that gave Lakeland a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and
Jenna Caterino (
Jr.-Stanton, Mich.) scoring on a layup to cap the run and a 30-6 lead with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The Muskies outscored the LumberJills 28-7 in the second quarter, hitting 12 of 18 shots in the period on the way to a 45-13 halftime lead. Lakeland continued to build the lead in the second half, with
Jenna Shea (
Fr.-Appleton, Wis.) hitting a three-pointer to make it 57-15 with 6:19 left in the third quarter and the margin surpassing 50 on MacPhee's layup making it 77-26 with 2:53 left in the game.
Lakeland hit 33 of 66 shots for the game, including 50 of its 81 points in the paint, and outrebounded Northland 41-26. The Muskies also forced 38 turnovers and turned them into a 53-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
Kerstin Sauerbrei (
Sr.-Ripon, Wis.) led Lakeland with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and added three assists and four steals.
Sadie Conway (
Sr.-Monroe, Wis.) came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points, and
Alexis Johnson (
So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and
Dani Damrow (
Fr.-Elkhart Lake, Wis.) added eight points each.
Lauryn Johnson (
So.-Kenosha, Wis.) pulled down six rebounds and
Caris Jaeger (
Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) added five rebounds.
Meryam Belbaz (
Jr.-Skokie, Ill.) also added three assists and three steals.
Tianna McKinney scored a game-high 14 points to lead Northland, which shot 23.1%, making 9 of 39 shots from the field, including 4 of 24 from three-point range.
Lakeland is on the road again for its next game when it travels to face Beloit College Thursday at 7 p.m. in Beloit, Wis.
