PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Aurora University pulled away with a big third quarter and the Lakeland University women's basketball team fell by an 86-60 score in both teams' Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference season opener Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies led after a quarter and hung in for a half but went ice cold in the second half. The Spartans remained undefeated on the season, moving to 6-0 while Lakeland dropped to 2-5 overall.

The Muskies trailed just 39-32 at halftime but Aurora outscored the Muskies 30-7 in the third quarter to blow open a close game. The Spartans scored on seven of their first eight trips down the court after halftime and had outscored Lakeland 24-3 after the break by the time Kylie Fischbach hit a three-pointer for a 62-35 lead with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the period. The Muskies didn't help their cause in the quarter with offensive struggles to the tune of making just 2 of 20 field goal tries, after shooting a respectable 41.9% in the first half.

Aurora led 69-39 after three quarters and would maintain the lead in the final period, with Lakeland getting no closer than 25 points on two occasions, the last time when Alexis Johnson (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) hit two free throws to make it 76-51 with 4:30 left.

The Muskies were unable to keep going a strong start to the game that saw them lead most of the first quarter and a majority of the game's first 14 minutes. Lakeland led 11-6 early after Kerstin Sauerbrei (Sr.-Ripon, Wis.) hit a three-pointer just over four minutes in, and the Muskies later retook the lead with 44 seconds left in the first period when Amari Banks (So.-Aurora, Ill.) drained a three-pointer to make it 18-15.

Lakeland extended the lead to 20-15 early in the second quarter on a fast break layup by Lauryn Johnson (So.-Kenosha, Wis.), and led as late as 25-24 after a driving layup by Jenna Caterino (Jr.-Stanton, Mich.) with 6:12 left in the first half. The teams combined for eight lead changes and four ties in the first half, but the Spartans took the lead for good with a 13-0 run just after Caterino's basket, with a Fischbach three-pointer making it 37-25. Aurora hit 5 of 7 from three-point range in the second period, but the Muskies would cut into the lead late in the half, and a layup by Dani Damrow (Fr.-Elkhart Lake, Wis.) with 22 seconds left made it 39-32.

Lakeland made 13 of 31 shots in the first half but finished shooting 31.3% (20 of 64), hitting just 21.2% (7 of 33) of its shots in the second half. Sauerbrei scored a team-high 15 points and made four three-pointers, and Jenna Shea (Fr.-Appleton, Wis.) added 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, all three season highs. Damrow also scored six points and added eight rebounds, Caterino scored six points with five assists and Lauryn Johnson added seven rebounds.

Eliot Dojutrek led Aurora with 17 points, one of four Spartans to score in double figures. Aurora shot 43.6%, making 34 of 78 shots, including 11 of 31 from three-point range (35.5%).

The Muskies now begin a stretch of games away from home starting with a trip down Highway 23 to face Marian University next Saturday at 2 p.m. in Fond du Lac.