Box Score MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) – Sophomore Sam Leisemann (Fall River, Wis.) posted her seventh career double-double to lead the Wisconsin Lutheran College women's basketball team to a 76-69 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win over Aurora on Saturday afternoon on Winterfest inside the Recreation Complex. With the win, 18th-year head coach Klay Knueppel won his 350th career game as head coach of the Warriors.
- Final Score: No. 12/14 Wisconsin Lutheran 76, Aurora 69
- Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (17-0, 13-0 NACC), Aurora (10-8, 8-4 NACC)
- Location: Recreation Complex, Milwaukee, Wis.
- The Spartans jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the Warriors in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game. The five-point margin was the largest of the quarter for either team, as there were six lead changes and two ties in the first period alone.
- WLC held a trio of one-point leads in the opening quarter, but AU netted the final five points to take a 22-17 lead into the second quarter. Ten of Wisconsin Lutheran's 17 points in the quarter came from second-chance opportunities.
- The Green and White trailed by a game-high six points on five different occasions in the second quarter, but took a pair of one-point leads late in the period after senior Kalies Birkholz's (Watertown, Wis.) free throws and three-pointer. Aurora scored the final four points of the half in the last 0:39 seconds to take a 43-40 lead at intermission.
- The Warriors trailed by six points again early in the third quarter, but held the Spartans to just five points in the period. WLC used a 6-0 spurt over the final 3:42 of the third quarter to take a 50-48 advantage into the final frame after sophomore Meggie Scott's (Yorkville, Ill.) fast break layup gave the hosts the lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
- A 10-2 scoring run by AU put them ahead 58-54 with 6:48 left, forcing a timeout by Wisconsin Lutheran. The timeout sparked a 12-0 run by the Green and White, including a trio of threes from senior Ally Gough (Horicon, Wis.) and Birkholz to bump the lead up to eight points.
- The advantage grew to a game-high 10 points with 1:52 remaining after a Leisemann layup and the Warriors made six of their last eight free throw attempts to seal the win.
- Leisemann finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, her seventh career double-double, to lead WLC. Birkholz followed with 15 and sophomore Kailtyn Shadoski (Janesville, Wis.) added 14 points and seven rebounds.
- Sophomore Nicole Jongebloed (Horicon, Wis.) chipped in nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
- Wisconsin Lutheran shot 36.8 percent from the floor, but outscored Aurora 21-9 in points off turnovers and 19-9 in second chance points.
- Head coach Klay Knueppel won his 350th career game, becoming the 48th active coach in NCAA Division III with at least 350 wins.
- The Warriors host Alverno (1-18, 0-12 NACC) on Tuesday for Senior Night at 7 p.m. in their final NACC regular season home game. Live coverage links will be available for the game at WLCSports.com.
