Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks (4-14 overall, 3-7 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (5-14 overall, 3-7 NACC)
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024Â Â 5 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/IIT WBB Game Notes  PDF
The Lakeland University women's basketball team looks for its second win in three days and aims to continue its series dominance of Illinois Institute of Technology when the teams meet Wednesday night at 5 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium to begin a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference basketball doubleheader.
Broadcast Information:
Live video & live statistics:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Andy Damp is again serving as the Voice of the Muskies calling the play-by-play for all Lakeland home basketball games this year.
Series history:Â 11th meeting, Lakeland leads 10-0
The Muskies and Illinois Tech are meeting for the first and only time this season in a series Lakeland has dominated thus far. The teams met twice last year, with the Muskies winning both meetings, including an 86-70 win on the road in Chicago Jan. 7, 2023 and then an 89-54 blowout win at home three weeks later. Lakeland also defeated IIT twice in 2022-23, winning 79-45 at home Jan. 23, 2022 and 66-50 in Chicago six days later. The teams became conference foes when the Scarlet Hawks joined the NACC in 2018, and the Muskies have won all eight meetings since. The schools first squared off Jan. 5, 1994 as Lakeland routed Illinois Tech 78-34 at home in the Wehr Center Fieldhouse.
Lakeland last time out: Won at Alverno 79-62 Monday
The Muskies had one of their most productive offensive performances of the season earlier this week and used it to snap a six-game losing streak. Lakeland scored a season-high 30 points in two different quarters, scoring 30 in the first and third periods to build an early lead and later to pull away from the Inferno.
Alexis Johnson scored 17 points and
Jenna Caterino (13),
A.T. Bartlett (12) and
Jenna Shea (10) also all scored in double figures.
Bree Arsenault also added nine points on three three-pointers in an 18-3 run to end the third quarter, and Lakeland led by as much as 26 points in the fourth quarter. The 79 points were the Muskies' second-highest total of the season, and Lakeland also outrebounded Alverno 49-40.
Kerstin Sauerbrei also made two three-pointers, giving her 149 triples on the season, putting her eight threes shy of tying the school career record of 157 threes set by Kristi (Thill) Bachar from 2001-06.
Illinois Tech last time out: Lost at MSOE 74-47 Saturday
The Scarlet Hawks struggled on the road against the Raiders, shooting just 30% in the NACC loss. MSOE built a 39-18 halftime lead on the strength of outscoring IIT 19-5 in the second quarter. Illinois Tech lost its third straight, making 15 of 50 and being on the wrong end of the Raiders' 41-24 rebounding margin. Kaya Jones scored 20 points, Julia Bucci scored 10 and Allie Sillo added nine points including three three-pointers.
About the Scarlet Hawks: Illinois Tech enters with a 4-14 record and like Lakeland has three wins in the NACC. The Scarlet Hawks have defeated Alverno, Dominican and Concordia Chicago but posted a 1-7 record in non-conference play. IIT finished 7-18 lats year and posted a 4-14 conference mark, the program's highest win totals in the NACC and overall since joining the league. The Scarlet Hawks have one of the conference's leading scorers in Bucci, who ranks third in the NACC averaging 15.3 points per game. Bucci also ranks fourth in the conference in three-pointers made (42) and three-pointers/game (2.3).
Shoot it freshman: Lakeland's
Jenna Shea is just a freshman but has been one of the best shooters in the NACC percentage-wise this season. Shea is leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 52.3% from long range. That's a number that also would rank No. 1 in all of NCAA Division III, but at 23-for-44 on the season Shea doesn't have enough attempts to qualify for the national statistics. The freshman from Kimberly High School also is the Muskies' leader in overall field goal percentage, shooting 50% on all field goal attempts, a mark that also ranks seventh in the NACC.
Up and up: Alexis Johnson set a new career high with 17 points against Alverno, and did so in just 14 minutes while sitting quite a bit of the game in foul trouble. Johnson has scored in double figures six times this season, and setting a career high has become a fairly regular occurrence for the sophomore. Four different times this season she has reset her career best, including just recently setting the mark with 15 points at Edgewood Jan. 17.
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