Senior Becky Mayo (Gladstone, Mich.) notched her eleventh double-double of the season and was one of four players scoring in double figures as Lakeland College defeated Aurora (Ill.) University 65-52 Saturday afternoon at Woltzen Gymnasium in a Northern Athletics Conference game.
The Muskies closed out their home schedule with a win on Senior Day for Mayo and Dana Henrichs (Fall Creek, Wis.), and both played key roles in a workmanlike win. Lakeland led from the start and got back to .500 in the NAC North Division, improving to 8-8 in league play (10-13 overall).
Mayo scored 13 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds, while Henrichs added 11 points and got the Muskies off to a good start early. She scored the first five points of the game on a long jumper and a three-pointer, and Lakeland never trailed the rest of the way.
The Muskies led 38-23 at halftime, taking their largest lead of the half when Leah Eisner (Jr.-Stevens Point, Wis.) converted a three-point play with ten seconds left in the half. Lakeland held the double-digit lead for just about the entire second half, with the Spartans (7-14 overall, 4-10 NAC) getting within nine just once, when Shay Jenkins broke out for a layup to make it 49-40 with 10:14 to play.
Taylor Jandrin (Jr.-Forestville, Wis.) scored 15 points to lead the Muskies, including ten points in the first half. Lakeland shot 45.5% in the first half (15-of-33) and finished shooting 40.4% (23-of-57).
Eisner joined Jandrin, Mayo and Henrichs in double figures with 13 points and added three steals. Aimee Thrune (Jr.-Prairie du Sac, Wis.) added nine assists and three steals. The Muskies remain two games behind Maranatha Baptist Bible College for fourth in the NAC North standings after the Crusaders defeated Benedictine (Ill.) University 70-56 today.
Jenkins and Bethany Dorrington scored 13 points each for Aurora, which shot 33.9% (20-of-59). The Spartans won the rebounding battle, 42-39, but committed 24 turnovers.
Lakeland concludes its regular season with two games on the road, with a matchup against Edgewood College up next on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Madison.