SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The Regents women's basketball team looked to complete the regular season series sweep of the Lakeland College Muskies on the road Saturday. Rockford entered the game with a two-game lead over Lakeland for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Rockford got off to a sluggish start to begin the game before rallying midway through the half. Just under three minutes into the game, the Regents found themselves in a 12-2 hole as the Muskies opened the game making four consecutive three-point attempts. Rockford would work its way back into the game and get with three points over the next six minutes. Senior Sherrell Woods (Rockford, Ill./East) caught fire connecting on 3-of-4 shot attempts for 7 of Rockford's 15 points to help cut the Lakeland lead down to 20-17. The two schools would battle back and forth over the next few minutes until Rockford got back to within 2 points at the 5:50 mark courtesy of a jumper by Katie Clark (Rock City, Ill./Dakota). However, the Muskies pulled away late in half by knocking down five more three-pointers in the closing minutes to take a 49-38 lead into the break.
The second half was very similar to the first as every time the Regents tried to make a run the Muskies seemed to have an answer. After falling behind by 13 points early in the second half, Rockford was able to get the deficit back down to single-digits on two separate occasions in the opening minutes. However, Lakeland once again had an answer as it went on a 9-2 run to push its lead up to 15 points. This time is was the Regents who would answer scoring the next eight points to get back within seven at 65-58. Senior Erin Ryczek (South Beloit, Ill./Hononegah) led the charge scoring six of the eight points. Despite Rockford's best efforts, Lakeland was able to take control of the game down the stretch extending its lead to as many as 16 points en route to an 89-77 victory. Rockford was ultimately done in by Lakeland's three-point shooting as the Muskies made 16-of-28 three-point attempts.
Offensively the Regents had ten players score with two cracking double-digits. Erin Ryczek was the team's leading scorer with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The senior also added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot. Lindsay Lengjak (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) was the other Regent in double-figures with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. She rounded out her afternoon with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Callie Rezin (Rockford, Ill./Lutheran) had a nice all-around game for Rockford with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. As a team the Regents shot the ball well connecting on 47.6% of their shot attempts and 46.2% of their 3-point attempts.
The women's basketball team returns to the court on Wednesday, January 29th at Concordia University Chicago. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.
