Lakeland College

Muskies rout Regents in 18-point victory

Athletics - posted on 1/27/2009

The Lakeland College women's basketball team used a strong performance out of halftime to put away Rockford in a 67-49 Northern Athletics Conference victory Tuesday night in Rockford, Ill.

Leading 33-26 at halftime, six different players scored in succession as the Muskies opened the second half with a 16-4 run in the first 8:17, pushing the advantage to 19 points. With Rockford unable to recover, Lakeland (13-5, 8-3 NAC) elevated the lead to 25 near the end before completing the 18-point win.

"We came out tonight and played a well-balanced game," said Lakeland head coach Teri Johnson. "Offensively and defensively, this is one of the more complete games we've had all season."

In the first half, Rockford field goals from Britney Curry and Erin Decker on its first two possessions gave the home squad its biggest lead of the night. A small 10-9 advantage at 15:30 of the first proved to be the Regents last lead of the night as a 10-0 Muskie run in the next six minutes put Lakeland up 19-10. Eight quick Rockford points with the Muskies up nine gave the Regents a quick glimpse of hope until Lakeland pulled ahead to a seven point lead entering the break.

KC Blahnik (Gladstone, Mich.) forwarded the Muskie charge on offense, scoring 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting (53 percent) and nabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Autumn Gaylor (Ingleside, Ill.) sank five of her seven shot attempts, contributing 11 points in the win. Kasey Gussert (Kingsford, Mich.) added 10 points off the bench, hitting 3-of-6 from behind the arc, and Sarah Schroeder (Sheboygan) scored seven points with eight rebounds.

The Muskies' tenacious defense recorded 13 steals in forcing Rockford to commit 22 turnovers, committing only 15 on offense itself. The Lakeland offense has averaged 14.66 turnovers per game in its current three-game winning streak after giving up 25.5 possessions per game in its previous two contests, both losses.

"We wanted to come out strong defensively in the second half," Johnson said. "We set some defensive goals and did a great job of executing. We made a point of shutting down Curry and Decker, and they only scored four total points in the second."

Curry and Decker each led Rockford (4-13, 2-8 NAC) with 11 points on the night. Amber Lee added 10 points off the bench as the Regents were held to five field goals in the second half.

Lakeland maintained a sizeable advantage on the glass, nabbing 17 offensive rebounds to the Regent's eight and outscoring Rockford in the paint 37 points to 10.

The Muskies swept the season series with the Regents, taking the first contest 65-62 on Nov. 25^th in Sheboygan.

The Muskies look to win their fourth straight NAC contest Saturday at home against Wisconsin Lutheran. Game-time in Woltzen Gymnasium is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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