Box Score
Box score
MILWAUKEE - After winning the opening tip-off,
there was no looking back for the Wisconsin Lutheran College
women's basketball team as it coasted into the Northern Athletics
Conference Tournament championship game by defeating Benedictine
69-47 Thursday at the Recreation Complex. The win set a new school
record of 16 straight for WLC as it improved its all-time record to
14-3 in NAC Tournament games.
Trailing 5-4 at the 17:26 mark of the first half, the Warriors
rattled off 17 straight points to lead 21-5 with 11:33 left. Senior
Shavon Dillon (Milwaukee, Wis./Hope School) started the scoring for
the Warriors and continued to perform at a high level throughout
the first half, She tallied 10 points and three rebounds. Dillon
finished the semifinal contest with a game-high 17 points, four
assists, and three rebounds. The Warriors had a solid first half,
shooting 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) from the floor, including 4-for-8
from downtown.
The Warriors opened the second half with a 34-21 lead. They
never looked back and continued to steamroll the Eagles' defense,
scoring 35 second-half points. Late in the second half, Benedictine
struggled to make a field goal, going 6:25 without scoring a
basket.
Benedictine struggled to keep the Warriors' lead to anything
less the 10 points the entire game. BenU did have two players reach
double-digit scoring, but that was not enough to stop the Warriors'
powerful offense. Wisconsin Lutheran led by as many as 24 points
(69-45) in the second half. Junior Melissa Klemm (Germantown,
Wis./Germantown) came off the bench for WLC to tally 11 points,
including three three-pointers.
Sophomore Kristen Schulz (Safford, Ariz./Arizona Lutheran) and
junior Melanie Laete (Spokane, Wash./Evergreen Lutheran) dominated
the post game with six rebounds each. Senior Carrie Thoma
(Richfield, Wis./Hartford Union) led the defense with four blocked
shots as the Warriors won the rebound battle 30-28.
For the game, WLC shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the floor,
including 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from beyond the arc.
Benedictine (14-13) was led by Michelle Gaede's 16 points.
Vincenza Ranallo added 15 points. The Eagles finished the game
shooting 34 percent (16-for-47) from the floor.
Wisconsin Lutheran (24-2) hosts second-seeded Concordia
Wisconsin (19-8) Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Northern Athletics
Conference Tournament championship game. The Falcons defeated
Maranatha 47-40 in the other NAC Tournament semifinal game. The
winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA
Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. Fans
unable to attend Saturday's game can follow live audio, stats, and
video at wlcsports.com.
