Warriors' Strong Start Holds Up In Fifth Straight Win

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WLCSports.com) - Junior Lexy Smit (Brandon, Wis.) scored a career-high 17 points and Wisconsin Lutheran College used a strong first quarter to hold off Rockford 52-42 on Saturday in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at the Seaver Center.

The Warriors (10-4, 5-1 NACC), who secured their second straight wire-to-wire victory, extended their winning streak to five games while defeating the Regents (6-9, 2-4 NACC) for the 25th consecutive time in the series.

WLC scored the first seven points of the contest and led 13-2 midway through the first quarter following senior Sam Leisemann's (Fall River, Wis.) layup. Senior Meggie Scott (Yorkville, Ill.) put Wisconsin Lutheran ahead by a game-high 15 points with 0:40 seconds left before holding a 25-11 advantage after the opening quarter. The Warriors made 11 of their 17 first-quarter shots for a staggering 64.7 percent. 

RU tallied the first six points of the second quarter to trail by eight, and WLC's lone made field goal came from a Smit layup past the midway point of the period. Despite shooting just 1-for-15 in the quarter, Wisconsin Lutheran went into halftime with a 27-20 lead.

Rockford cut its deficit down to just four points on three separate occasions in the third quarter, as the Warriors were held to 20 percent shooting in the period. Junior Kara Troxel (Bonduel, Wis.) put WLC in front 36-28 with a minute-and-a-half left, but the Regents scored the final four points to stay within reach.

Smit opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a three, and after RU came within six, she sparked a 5-0 spurt with another trifecta to give Wisconsin Lutheran an 11-point lead at 45-34 with 5:22 left. RU never came closer than seven points the remainder of the game and the Warriors netted their final four points from the charity stripe to collect the win.

Smit led all scorers with a career-high 17 points and pulled down a game- and season-high eight rebounds. Troxel finished with 10 points and six rebounds, freshman Margie Stevens (Oneida, Wis.) grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a season-high three shots, while Scott dished out seven assists. WLC shot 31.6 percent (18-for-57) for the game, but held an opponent under 50 points for the sixth time this season.

Katie Paredes was the lone player in double figures with 10 points for Rockford, which shot 29.8 percent (17-for-57) from the floor.

Wisconsin Lutheran begins a two-game home week on Wednesday when it hosts Aurora (12-4, 5-2 NACC) at 7 p.m. Live coverage links will be available at WLCSports.com.