Lakeland College

Muskies cold from the perimeter in 13-point loss

Athletics - posted on 2/18/2009

SHEBOYGAN-The Lakeland College women's basketball team was hampered by poor shooting and an inability to maintain possession of the basketball, dropping a 62-49 decision to North Division-leader Concordia Wisconsin Wednesday night at Moose and Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Trailing 33-23 at the half, the Muskie offense took charge coming out of the break. Lakeland scored the first five points of the second half while holding Concordia scoreless in the first four minutes in cutting the Falcon lead to five points.

Success proved to be short-lived for Lakeland as Concordia rode a 21-8 run to regain its double-digit lead. Down by 18 points, Lakeland could get no closer than 10 as Concordia maintained its advantage for the remainder of the game.

"Concordia forced us out of our offensive scheme," Lakeland head coach Teri Johnson said. "We had trouble getting the ball inside and they made us pay. We attempted 18 shots and committed 16 turnovers. If you take half of those away, maybe we aren't heading into halftime down 10."

Lakeland (16-8, 11-6) struggled from the field on the evening, shooting 28.6 percent from the floor and no higher than 33 percent (6-18) in one half.

The Muskies were a combined 0-of-10 from behind the arc in the second half, shooting just 3-of-16 for the night.

"If we make even three of those, it's an entirely different ball game at the end," said Johnson. " Shots just weren't falling for us tonight."

Turnovers also plagued the Muskies as the offense gave away 24 possessions on the night, including 16 in the first half.

KC Blahnik (Gladstone, Mich.) scored 13 points with 11 rebounds on the night, pacing the Muskies in both categories. Katie Kilton (Waukesha) added eight points of her own off the bench as Lakeland was held to its third-lowest point total this season.

Krista Mayyou led all scorers on the night with 19 points for the Falcons as Concordia (19-4, 16-1) shot 41.8 percent from the field on the night.

"We need to play much better defense and get better movement when we have possession," said Johnson. "The depth on our bench is an asset and we need to use that to our advantage in making MSOE play at our tempo."

Lakeland returns to action this Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest against MSOE in the inaugural NAC Challenge game. Prior to action, the Muskies will honor senior guard Kasey Gussert.

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