MADISON, Wis. - The Edgewood College women's basketball team sent their senior class out on a positive note on Tuesday night. The Eagles built a 10-point lead and then held off a furious Lakeland College rally for a 61-57 victory in the team's regular season finale. Edgewood College will be the fourth seed for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament which starts on Saturday.
Edgewood College (14-11, 14-6 NACC) built a first half cushion at the free throw line midway through the half. After pairs of free throws by senior Chelsey Watkins and Courtney Spangler, senior Allie Novitskescored on a jumper for a 25-18 lead. Mariah Hill added a two more free throws for an 8-1 run and the Eagles largest lead of the first half at 27-18. Lakeland College (9-16, 6-14 NACC) cut the Eagles lead back to three, but another basket from Novitske and a finger roll by Hill just before the buzzer put the Eagles back out front 31-24 at halftime. Brooke McBainended the first half with nine points and six rebounds.
The lead would grow to 10 points, four different times in the second half, however the Muskies would get back into the game behind Leah Eisner and some timely three-point shooting. Trailing 43-33, Lakeland College got it rolling with two three-pointers from Taylor Jandrin and another by Callie Olson. A three-point play from Bailey Gravyold cut the Eagles' lead to just 48-47 with five minutes to play.
However, McBain answered with a huge three-point shot and a short jumper in the paint to keep the Eagles out in front. Eisner had a chance to tie the game for Lakeland with 1:18 to go when she was fouled on basket, but missed the free throw and the Eagles clung to a 56-55 lead. Hill converted four straight free throws down the stretch and the Eagles hung on for their 14th conference victory, which marks their most ever under head coach Casey Plucinski.
McBain turned a career performance matching her career-high with 20 points and 11 rebounds, for her second career double-double. Hill went 7-for-8 at the free throw line to finish with 16 points and a team-high six assists. Spangler came off the bench to add 13 points and four offensive rebounds. The Eagles crushed the Muskies on the offensive glass with 19 offensive board compared to just five for Lakeland.
Eisner scored 12 points and pulled down a massive 17 rebounds in her final collegiate game. Another senior, Jandrin, scored nine points, all from the three-point line. The Eagles' ability to force turnovers came up huge again, as Lakeland shot a respectable 46.5 percent from the field, but committed 21 turnovers to the Eagles' 10.
The game marked the final regular season home game for four Eagle seniors, Novitske, Watkins, Danielle Dixon and Dareon Henderson. The Eagles will host fifth-seed Benedictine University on Saturday at 2:00 in the opening game of the NACC Tournament. The Eagles just defeated Benedictine 57-47 on Sunday. Live coverage of the game can be found on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.