PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's basketball team went down to the wire with Concordia University Wisconsin once again but came up just short in a 63-60 loss Wednesday night in another nailbiter between the rivals Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to within three but missed a tying three-point attempt at the buzzer and fell at home for just the second time this season. Lakeland also dropped its third straight game and is now 9-11 overall and 6-5 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with five regular season games remaining.

Lakeland and Concordia also played their third straight game decided by one possession dating back to 2023, with their last three meetings decided by a total of six points. The Falcons turned the tables after losing by a point to the Muskies on a last-second shot a year ago, when a basket by Jenna Caterino (Sr.-Stanton, Mich.) in the final seconds gave Lakeland a 65-64 win on the road in Mequon.

Concordia (9-11 overall, 8-3 NACC) scored eight straight points early in the fourth quarter to pull out to a 59-48 lead, but the Muskies battled back. The Falcons were held without a point for more than four minutes, and Jenna Shea (So.-Appleton, Wis.) hit a three-pointer with 4:35 left to trim CUW's lead to 59-55.

Lakeland had chances to get closer, but missed a shot inside and then the Falcons came up with consecutive offensive rebounds on the same trip, and Aubrey DeBauch took advantage of the third chance for a layup as the shot clock expired to make it 61-55 with 2:51 to play. The Muskies still trailed by six after another layup at the end of the shot clock by DeBauch made it 63-57 with 1:10 left, but A.T. Bartlett (Jr.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a three-point game with 56 seconds left.

Lakeland had a bundle of chances to get closer in the last minute, missing no less than four shots in the last 22 seconds. Concordia committed a turnover with 27 seconds left after a five-second violation inbounding the ball, and the Falcons missed two free throws with 18 seconds left and again with 4.8 seconds remaining. The Muskies advanced the ball to the frontcourt after timeouts each time, including for the final time with 4.5 seconds left. The final possession wound up with Caterino with the ball on the right wing 23 feet from the basket, and after looking to pass the senior dribbled once left, stepped back and fired a shot that was on line but hit the front rim and bounced off.

Lakeland trailed for much of the game but finished each of the first three quarters strong. The Muskies led 21-20 after a frantic first quarter, were down just 31-30 at halftime, and cut a 12-point third quarter deficit down to five at 51-46.

Lakeland had a tough night shooting, though, especially in the paint. The Muskies hit 8 of 23 three-point attempts, one of their season high of nine triples made twice in a game, but converted just 11 of 41 inside the three-point line and finished 19 of 64 overall (29.7%).

Concordia made just 2 of 12 from three-point range, but the Falcons shot 39.1% (25 of 64) and finished with a 42-20 advantage in points in the paint. DeBauch scored 21 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists, Andrea Butterbrodt scored 13 points and Liliana Guerra came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points, seven points above her season average coming in.

Caterino led Lakeland with 12 points and added six rebounds, Bartlett scored 10 points and Shea added seven points including a pair of three-pointers. Halle Boldt (Sr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) also added seven points plus a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Muskies are home again on Saturday for their Senior Day when they host Dominican University at 3:15 p.m.