The series between the Muskies and Stars has belonged to Lakeland, which has won five straight over Dominican though the most recent one came by just a hair, a 48-47 victory earlier this year on Jan. 3 in River Forest, Ill., as Alexis Johnson scored the go-ahead basket with 20.5 seconds left in the game. The Muskies also won the last time the teams played at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium, holding off the Stars for a 70-65 win almost exactly a year ago on Feb. 8, 2025. The last Dominican win came Jan. 18, 2020, with a 78-50 victory at Lakeland. That win snapped the Muskies' 11-game winning streak in the series from 2013-19. The schools first met Nov. 23, 1983, with Lakeland rolling to a 70-34 win at Dominican.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at MSOE 65-40 Wednesday
A close game into the third quarter got away from the Muskies late as a brief two-game winning streak was snapped by the Raiders. Lakeland trailed just 31-27 when MSOE went on a 25-3 run over a stretch of more than 10 minutes of the third and fourth quarters. The Muskies were cold from the field the whole game, shooting 26.9% in posting their lowest scoring total of the season. A.T. Bartlett led Lakeland with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals and Sydney Nimsakont added nine points off the bench. With an official Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record of 7-7 including a forfeit win for NACC purposes over Alverno, the Muskies remain one-half game behind Concordia Chicago and Concordia Wisconsin in the chase for a final top-8 finish in the standings and a spot in the eight-team NACC Tournament.

Dominican last time out: Defeated Illinois Tech 48-41 Wednesday
The Stars weathered icy shooting to defeat the Scarlet Hawks and get to double digits in victories on the season with their 10th win overall and fourth in the NACC. Dominican led much of the way and was ahead by as much as 15 points in the second quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter, but IIT hung around and was as close as six points in the game's late stages. Kennedy Yost scored 12 points, Teagan Dahl notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Allannah Jackson added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven steals. Dominican made just 19 of 71 shots, including 2 of 24 from three-point range, but grabbed 25 offensive rebounds as part of a 50-37 rebounding advantage.

Recapping the first meeting: The Muskies saw a nine-point lead slip away in the final three minutes but pulled out the win when Johnson scored what turned out to be the winning basket. Dominican had come back after trailing virtually the entire game, and still had a pair of chances to win it in the final 10 seconds, but Lakeland held on for a win that was the fourth of a season-high five-game winning streak. Johnson and Bartlett scored 12 points each while Jackson paced Dominican with 12 points.