Lakeland last time out: Won at Beloit 67-60 last Thursday
The Muskies won their second straight game on the road, making the plays down the stretch to take over in the final minutes. Jenna Caterino scored the go-ahead layup with 1:38 left to break a 58-58 tie, and Lakeland finished the game on an 11-2 run. The Muskies shot 36.8% but hit six three-pointers, four more than the Buccaneers, and also hit 19 of 24 shots from the foul line. Kerstin Sauerbrei scored 18 points, most by a Lakeland player so far this season, and also added a career-best five steals. A.T. Bartlett (14 points) and Alexis Johnson (13) also both posted career highs scoring, with Johnson also adding seven rebounds.

UW-Stevens Point last time out: Won at St. Scholastica (Minn.) 77-62 Saturday
The Pointers also were victorious on the road, making a trip north to Duluth and defeating the Saints behind a big first quarter. UWSP opened the game with a 14-0 run and jumped out to a 27-9 lead after one period. Stevens Point was never seriously threatened after that, with St. Scholastica getting no closer than 12 points the rest of the game. Josie Nies scored 17 points and Jamie Pfeifer added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Pointers finished with a big 39-25 rebounding advantage.

About the Pointers: UW-Stevens Point is 3-0 this season, having also won twice at home in its home UWSP Tip-Off Tournament. Included in that was a 59-54 win over defending Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference champion St. Norbert. The Pointers finished 11-14 overall a year ago and 3-11 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after a good showing in non-conference play. Matt Hockett is in his second year as head coach after replacing longtime coach Shirley Egner, and his team returned all five starters this year, an experienced nucleus including two seniors and three juniors in the starting lineup.

Everyone involved: The Muskies came into this season with an inexperienced group with just two returnees who played regular minutes last year, but the entire team has picked up some court time quickly. Every one of the 14 players in uniform so far this season has played in all three games with the exception of Dani Damrow, who was out against Beloit. Twelve players so far are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, and all 14 players also already have recorded numbers in the scoring, rebounding and steal columns, including every player having a minimum of at least three points and three rebounds this season.

Closing in: Kerstin Sauerbrei enters the game knocking on the door of Lakeland's top five all-time in three-pointers made. The senior hit two triples against Beloit and now has 123 career threes made. She is two shy of tying both Stacey Warnke (1992-96) and Amanda Majewski (2016-20) for fourth all-time with 125 three-pointers made by each. Sauerbrei is currently 34 threes shy of the all-time school record of 157 treys by Kristi (Thill) Bachar from 2001-06.