Lakeland has mostly dominated the all-time series with Milwaukee School of Engineering, which dates back to 1987. The Muskies won the teams' last meeting just over a year ago, holding off the Raiders 68-60 at home at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium Jan. 18, 2023 behind 16 points from Kerstin Sauerbrei. MSOE's last win in the series came exactly one year earlier with a 67-53 win in Milwaukee that snapped Lakeland's seven-game winning streak against the Engineers. The series dates back to Feb. 9, 1987, when Lakeland won the first game 89-34 at home, and the Muskies won the first 26 meetings and 39 of the first 40 overall.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Edgewood 75-58 Wednesday
The Muskies gave the current Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference leaders a run for over a half before the Eagles pulled away in the third and fourth quarters. Lakeland started fast, bolting to a 16-4 lead early and holding the point until late in the second quarter. The Muskies trailed just 28-25 at halftime, but Edgewood scored 47 second half points to stay undefeated in conference. Alexis Johnson scored a career-high 15 points off the bench for Lakeland and Jenna Caterino and A.T. Bartlett both added 10 points each. The Muskies lost their third straight but performed much better than in their home loss to Wisconsin Lutheran a week earlier, and now against MSOE will conclude an early conference schedule that will have included all five of the top five teams in the NACC in overall record so far this season.

MSOE last time out: Defeated Alverno 68-23 Wednesday
The Raiders dominated at home with another outstanding defensive showing, holding the Inferno to just nine made field goals in 50 attempts (18% shooting) as well as six points or less in three of four quarters. MSOE led 17-4 after one period and 36-10 at halftime in winning for the fifth time in NACC play, just one win less than the Raiders had all of last year in conference. Halena Hill scored 12 points, Elly Kohl totaled 11 and in all 13 different players scored for the Raiders, who shot 39.1%, made 8 of 19 from three-point range and also posted a big 50-31 rebounding advantage.

About the Raiders: MSOE has been the most improved team in the NACC through the first two months of the season, already surpassing its overall win total from last year when the Raiders finished 7-18 overall and 6-12 to tie for ninth in the conference. MSOE won six straight games early in the season including a victory over Aurora and has been one of the best defensive teams in the conference and one of the better ones in NCAA Division III. The Raiders lead the NACC in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, and their 49.3 points per game allowed ranks 14th of 422 schools in Division III.

Plugging away: Kerstin Sauerbrei continues to chip away at Lakeland's all-time record for three-pointers made. The senior is up to 145 career threes, putting her 12 shy of tying the record of 157 set by Kristi (Thill) Bachar from 2001-06. Sauerbrei has made one three in each of the last three games but earlier this season had a stretch of four triples made in four straight games. Sauerbrei also reached another mini-milestone against Edgewood on Wednesday, as her three rebounds put her over the 200-board mark for her career with 201 career rebounds.

Best threats: Sauerbrei has been the Muskies' most dangerous scorer with six games of at least 12 points including a high of 18 this year, but A.T. Bartlett and Jenna Caterino have been the team's most frequent double-figure scorers. Both Bartlett and Caterino have scored in double figures in seven games so far, with Caterino leading the team in scoring (8.6 points per game) and Bartlett ranking third (7.8 ppg). Sauerbrei has scored in double figures in six games, and Alexis Johnson has reached 10 points or more in four games.