WISCONSIN DELLS - The Lakeland College women's basketball team braved a snowstorm to play the games but came away with a 0-2 record at the JustAGame Christmas Shooout at JustAGame Fieldhouse.
The Muskies traveled through the snow and lost to John Carroll (Ohio) University 59-51 in a close tussle on Thursday. Lakeland then was defeated 85-60 by Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University on Friday, dropping to 4-8 overall this season.
The Muskies continued a recent trend of getting off to good starts, taking early leads in both games. Lakeland led 9-0 against John Carroll (6-3 overall) to start the game but soon went cold, and finished the game making just 27.4% of its shots (17-of-62).
Lakeland still hung tough in the second half and was tied at 46-46 when Aimee Thrune (Jr.-Prairie du Sac, Wis.) hit a three-pointer with 6:23 to play. The Muskies still were down just two at 53-51 after a three-pointer by Paige Papineau (So.-Green Bay, Wis.) with 4:20 left, but Lakeland would not score again the rest of the way.
Dana Henrichs (Sr.-Fall Creek, Wis.) led the way with 15 points and eight rebounds in the opener. Taylor Jandrin (Jr.-Forestville, Wis.) scored 10 and Leah Eisner (Jr.-Stevens Point, Wis.) added nine points and a 12 rebounds.
The Muskies had their hands full in their second game against Dakota Wesleyan, an NAIA school that is just outside the most recent NAIA Division II Top 25 poll. The Tigers shot 52.5% for the game (32-of-61) and hit 12-of-25 from behind the three-point arc while also forcing 21 Lakeland turnovers.
Dakota Wesleyan (12-4 overall) broke open a tight game by finishing the first half with four three-pointers in a 14-0 run to take a 41-27 halftime lead. The Muskies only got as close as 11 points once in the second half and trailed by as many as 27.
Eisner stepped up with 21 points and 12 rebounds and Becky Mayo (Sr.-Gladstone, Mich.) added 12 points and eight rebounds. Papineau added nine points off the bench, including three three-pointers. The Muskies shot 43.8% (21-of-48) from the field.
Celeste Beck came off the bench to score 17 points, including five three-pointers, for DWU. Five players scored in double figures for the Tigers, who traveled to the tournament from Mitchell, S.D.
Dakota Wesleyan and John Carroll both finished undefeated in the invitational. Dakota Wesleyan and John Carroll both also defeated Ashford (Iowa) in the tourney.
Lakeland gets a healthy break until its next game when it hosts Finlandia (Mich.) University in the New Year on Jan. 2 in a non-conference game at 5 p.m. at Woltzen Gymnasium.