Lakeland last time out: Defeated Alverno 100-52 Saturday
The Muskies have had the week off from games due to final exams, but in their most recent contest used a huge third quarter to defeat the Inferno going away in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game. Lakeland led 31-24 at halftime but scored a program-record 45 points in the third quarter, smashing the previous record of 38 points set earlier this season. The Muskies made 17 of 23 shots in the third and finished shooting 65.1% in the second half on the way to better-than 50% shooting for the game.

Halle Boldt scored 18 points, making 9 of 11 shots, and also added five steals. A.T. Bartlett added 17 points, Peyton Madl scored 16 points with four three-pointers, Alexis Johnson and Meghan MacPhee scored 13 and Jenna Caterino chipped in 10 points to make it six players in double figures scoring. Lauryn Johnson scored just two points but added a career-high 12 rebounds, including 11 in the first half.

Northland last time out: Lost to Cornell (Iowa) 88-23 Nov. 30
The LumberJills have been idle for nearly two full weeks, since falling to the Rams at home in a non-conference game. Shorthanded Northland made just 8 of 46 field goals (17.4%), committed 28 turnovers and was held to 14 points through the first three quarters. Cornell made 45.8% of its shots, including 11 of 37 from three-point range. Hanna Hoskin led the LumberJills with 13 points and added five rebounds and two blocked shots. Katelyn Altaha added six rebounds.

About the LumberJills: It has been a struggle the last two years for Northland, which finished 0-22 last year and is winless so far this season. The program has a new coach in first-year leader Corey Sackmann, and just three members of the team returned from last year-Altaha, Britta Josephson and Kodie Rempp. The LumberJills are a member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and were plenty competitive as recently as two years ago, when the team finished 8-14 overall in 2022-23.

Strength in reserve: Lakeland continues to rank among the NCAA Division III leaders in the related categories of steals and turnovers forced per game, coming in eighth nationally in both (16.5 steals/game, 27.5 turnovers forced/game). Another area where the Muskies are excelling is in contributions from their bench. The NCAA now features bench points per game as an official statistical category, and Lakeland is tops in the NACC and 22nd nationally of 415 teams in Division III with 30.5 points/game from reserves. Meghan MacPhee has averaged 8.7 points in three games since returning from an early-season injury, and Peyton Madl is adding 6.5 points/game so far. Jenna Shea, Ariana Vaitkeviciute, Meryam Belbaz and Sadie Grabow plus Amari Banks and Katelyn Hauser all also have contributed off the bench in their appearances, and the Muskies feature 11 players averaging at least 12.8 minutes/game.