BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Wisconsin Lutheran College women's basketball team shot 31.7 percent and could not hold onto its 10-point lead in the second half as the host Lynn Fighting Knights came away with a 60-54 non-conference win Wednesday afternoon at the de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center.
Lynn, an NCAA Division II member of the Sunshine State Conference facing the Warriors for the fifth time in series history, scored the first four points of the game and held a slim one-point lead (12-11) at the 13:45 mark of the opening half. The Warriors took the lead soon after at 13:13 and held it for the remainder of the half. Neither team scored for the final 2:50 of the first half as the Warriors went into halftime leading 23-17.
Shavon Dillon (Milwaukee, Wis./Hope School) scored six points in the first half to lead all scorers. WLC shot 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from the floor as a team, while the Fighting Knights were held to a dismal 23.1 percent (6-for-26).
The Warriors extended their lead to a game-high 10-point lead twice in the second half, including a 32-22 advantage at the 14:57 mark. The forest green and white had a one-point lead at 44-43 with 4:45 left in the second half, but Lynn scored the next five points and never relinquished its lead again. The Fighting Knights led by as many as 10 points (58-48) with 53 seconds left.
WLC shot just 29.4 percent (10-for-34) in the second half, opposed to LU's 54.8 percent (17-for-31) shooting performance, which proved to be the difference in the contest.
Krissy Day (West Allis, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) was the only Warrior to reach double figures in the game as she netted 11 points. Katelyn Kuehl (Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago Lutheran) and Kristen Schulz (Safford, Ariz./Arizona Lutheran) totaled nine rebounds each as the Warriors won the rebounding battle for the eighth time in nine games this season, 43-40.
Karolina Bazua scored a game-high 12 points off the bench to pace four players from Lynn in double figures. Charla Nelson-James also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with her 10 points for a double-double.
Wisconsin Lutheran (6-3) returns to action Thursday when it faces Barry (5-3), another NCAA Division II member of the Sunshine State Conference. The Warriors and Buccaneers will tip-off at 4:30 p.m. at Barry's Health & Sports Center in Miami Shores, Fla.