CHICAGO, Ill. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team held Illinois Institute of Technology to 25% shooting for the game on the way to a 68-39 win Wednesday night on the road at IIT's Keating Sports Center.

The Muskies also shot a season-best 45% and used a big second quarter to begin pulling away and earn their first win of the season. Lakeland also won its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener and improved to 1-5 overall.

The Muskies made 27 of 60 shots in the game and led for more than 36 minutes, trailing only briefly on two occasions in the first quarter. Lakeland also scored 32 points off of Tech turnovers and posted a 28-10 advantage in bench points with a balanced attack.

The Muskies outscored Illinois Tech (2-5 overall, 1-1 NACC) 18-6 in the second quarter, breaking open what was a close game after the first 10 minutes. Lakeland led 17-13 after one period but went on a 14-2 run in the first 3:41 of the second quarter, including six points in the run from Alexis Johnson (Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.), a three-pointer by Jenna Shea (Jr.-Appleton, Wis.) and a three-point play by Lauryn Johnson (Sr.-Kenosha, Wis.). Sadie Grabow (So.-Bourbonnais, Ill.) capped the run with a short jumper in the lane to make it 31-15, and her layup with 15 seconds in the half gave the Muskies a 35-19 halftime lead.

Lakeland never led by less than 16 the rest of the way. The Muskies were up 49-29 after three quarters and led by as many as 30 points in the final quarter, making 8 of 13 shots over the final 10 minutes.

Alexis Johnson scored a game-high 18 points, making 7 of 11 shots from the field including both of her three-point attempts. Johnson also added five rebounds and five steals.

Sydney Nimsakont (So.-Glendale Heights, Ill.) scored nine points and added five rebounds and three steals off the bench and Grabow, Shea and Lauryn Johnson added eight points each. Amari Banks (Sr.-Aurora, Ill.) also added seven points off the bench and Jiaryatou Cisse (Jr.-Harrison, Mich.) paced the team with eight rebounds.

Illinois Tech finished making 14 of 56 shots from the field, including 1 of 9 from three-point range. The Scarlet Hawks also committed 28 turnovers. Halle Williams led IIT with 11 points.

The Muskies are back home Saturday to face Wisconsin Lutheran College at 1 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.