PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Lauryn Johnson (So.-Kenosha, Wis.) made five free throws in the final 27 seconds and the Lakeland University women's basketball team staved off a late Concordia University Chicago rally to win at home for the first time this season with a 54-50 victory Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Johnson made 5 of 6 from the line in the closing minute as part of her career-high 12 points, and the Muskies were able to grind out a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win for their first victory of 2024. Lakeland also won at home for the first time in five tries and improved to 4-8 overall and 2-1 in the NACC.

The Muskies led for almost the entirety of the final three quarters and held an 11-point lead after Johnson's layup off an inbounds pass from A.T. Bartlett (So.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) made it 43-32 with 6:43 left in the game. The Cougars (5-6 overall, 2-1 NACC) made a run, though, responding with nine straight points, with a three-pointer by Melia Perry drawing CUC within 43-41 with 3:11 to play.

Bartlett would have another assist the next time down, with her feed to Dani Damrow (Fr.-Elkhart Lake, Wis.) for a layup stretching the Muskies lead back to 45-41, but the Cougars crawled back to within 46-45 when Khaliah Reid hit a short jumper in the paint with 1:25 left.

Damrow split two free throws with 47 seconds remaining, and Lakeland was then the beneficiary of a CUC error right after a timeout, with a pass from the frontcourt to the backcourt resulting in a backcourt violation and turnover. The Muskies then finished the game with good work at the free throw line, making 7 of 8 from the line in the final 36 seconds.

Bartlett hit two free throws to push the lead to four and Johnson made two more to make it 51-45. Reid made a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to get Concordia within 51-48, but Johnson hit two more free throws to stretch the lead back to five. And after a layup by Reid with 3.6 seconds remaining, Lakeland advanced the ball to the frontcourt after a timeout and Johnson was fouled with 1.1 seconds left, where she made the second of two free throws to close it out.

In a ragged, low-scoring game where both teams shot below 36% and combined for 51 turnovers, the Muskies had one of their best performances at the free throw line this season. Lakeland came in shooting 60.3% at the line but made 15 of 19 from the stripe (78.9%), including Johnson hitting 6 of 8 for the game.

Both teams struggled to score early, including the Muskies making just 1 of 15 from the field in the first quarter. Concordia committed eight turnovers in the first period, though, and the teams were tied at 8-8 after 10 minutes. The scoring pace didn't pick up much more for almost five minutes of the second quarter, either, with Lakeland leading 12-10 before Bree Arsenault (Sr.-Hermansville, Mich.) made a reverse layup with 5:09 left in the period.

The Muskies would warm up from there, making 5 of 6 from the field over a three-minute stretch, and a three-pointer by Jenna Shea (Fr.-Appleton, Wis.) opened up a 24-16 margin with 2:15 left in the half. Lakeland would carry a 24-18 lead into halftime, and would respond after CUC opened the first half with seven straight points to retake the lead, coming back to go ahead 37-32 after three quarters and stretch the lead further before the Cougars' final rally.

Jenna Caterino (Jr.-Stanton, Mich.) scored 15 points and added eight rebounds to tie her career highs in both categories. Johnson also added six rebounds to go with her 12 points and Bartlett and Shea added seven points each.

The Muskies shot 35.3% for the game, making 18 of 51 field goals. Concordia Chicago made 19 of 53 from the field (35.8%) but attempted just eight free throws, making six. Reid scored CUC's final seven points of the game and finished with a team-high 12 points.

Lakeland is home again Saturday for the second game of a three-game homestand when it hosts St. Norbert College at 2 p.m.