Lakeland College

Tough Defense Helps Women's Basketball Overcome Crusaders

Athletics - posted on 1/17/2008

The Lakeland College women's basketball team cruised to a 62-49 Northern Athletics Conference victory over Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Thursday, Jan. 17, at Lakeland.

The Muskies (6-9, 3-5 NAC) kicked off the game with a 10-2 run and steadily built a lead throughout the half to go into the locker room with the 35-22 advantage.

Lakeland also used tough defensive pressure to pick off 11 steals as a team and consequently force the Crusaders into 23 turnovers for the game, which helped the Muskies keep a comfortable lead throughout the contest.

"Going into this game we set out with really high goals," said Lakeland head coach Teri Johnson. "For instance, we wanted to get steals, keep our turnovers down, and make sure our rebounding was spread around. It was good to see that we reached a lot of those goals."

The Muskies were also able to enjoy a balanced number of contributing scorers, led by sophomore guard KC Blahnik, who tallied her first double-double of the season with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with three steals. Sophomore guard Megan Chart led the offensive drive with 16 points, knocking down 4-for-7 from behind the arc, while sophomore guard Terra Hiben also contributed with 10 points and three steals.

"KC Blahnik played very well tonight," Johnson said. "Megan Chart is on, and Terra Hiben always seems to be in the right place at the right time. She comes up with great hustle plays and shot well."

Lakeland also shot a nearly-perfect 13-for-14 from the free throw line, and out-rebounded the Crusaders, 38-37.

The Muskies will continue NAC play with their first game on the road in one month as they travel to Wisconsin Lutheran College, who is currently undefeated in conference play, on Saturday, Jan. 19.

"I think it's going to be a great match-up," said Johnson of Saturday's game. "We definitely have to bring our 'A' game. All we want to do is focus from one game to the next. We took care of business tonight, so now it's time to focus on taking care of business on Saturday night."

Game time with Wisconsin Lutheran is set for 7 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wis.

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