PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit but went cold late and Loras (Iowa) College pulled away late for a 69-56 win Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Duhawks finished the game outscoring the Muskies 23-10 over the final nine minutes, including an 8-0 run early in the fourth to take control of the first-ever meeting between the teams. Lakeland was again close at home but remained winless on the season, dropping to 0-4 in non-conference play.
The Muskies had stretches of excellence, turning an early six-point deficit into a seven-point lead and later coming back from down double digits in the third quarter to tie the game. Lakeland also went cold for long periods, though, and also was unable to slow down a Loras (2-2 overall) team that finished the game shooting 50.0%.
The Duhawks led 41-30 midway through the third quarter after a layup by Emma Thompson and still were ahead by 10 at 45-35 after two free throws by Lexi Beier late in the quarter, but the Muskies heated up from three-point range to tie the game early in the fourth period.
Jenna Shea (
Jr.-Appleton, Wis.) hit a pair of threes,
A.T. Bartlett (
Sr.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) added another and
Meghan MacPhee (
Jr.-Marquette, Mich.) hit a short jumper to tie it at 46-46 with 9:15 remaining in the game.
Loras responded with the next four points, but baskets inside by
Jiaryatou Cisse (
Jr.-Harrison, Mich.) and
Ariana Vaitkeviciute (
So.-Merrionette Park, Ill.) kept Lakeland within 53-50 with just over six minutes left in the game. The Duhawks would again score on their next two trips, though, including a three-pointer by Ashtyn Kelderman making it 58-50 with 5:24 left. Bartlett's fourth three-pointer of the game 20 seconds later cut the deficit to 58-53, but the Muskies scored just three more points the rest of the way, with seven missed shots and four turnovers the rest of the way. Loras put the game away in the last minute, making 7 of 8 free throws in the final 50 seconds.
Lakeland and Loras exchanged the lead seven times in the game and were tied on three more occasions. The Muskies made their first surge in a span bookending the first quarter break, with a 17-4 run capped by Cisse scoring to make it 23-16 with 7:18 left in the second quarter. Lakeland scored just three more points the rest of the half, though, including going scoreless the final 5:18, and the Duhawks came back to take a 32-26 lead at halftime, hitting 51.9% of their shots (14 of 27) over the first 20 minutes, including a surprising 4 of 9 on three-point tries.
Bartlett finished with a season-high 16 points and also led the team with six rebounds. Shea also scored 11 points off the bench, making 3 of 6 from three-point range, and Cisse added seven points and four rebounds.
The Muskies finished shooting 32.8%, making 22 of 67 field goals, including 8 of 25 from three-point range (32.0%). Lakeland also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds but made just 4 of 9 free throws.
Loras finished making 25 of 50 field goals, including 7 of 16 three-point tries (43.8%) after hitting just 17.2% (11 of 64) from long range in its first three games. Kelderman, Kiah Davis and Claire Wagner all scored 12 points each and Wagner added a game-high eight rebounds.
Lakeland goes on the road for its next game when it travels to face the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Stevens Point.
