PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Today the Blue Angels head to the Lakeland Tip-Off Tournament to face some stiff competition. After defeating their first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference team in Marian University, the Blue Angels will play yet another NACC school to open the tournament.
The Muskies were picked to finish fourth in the preseason polls for the NACC and are coming off a 70-56 loss to University of Wisconsin Whitewater. Lakeland surrendered 28 turnovers and 16 offensive rebounds to the Warhawks. Although a tough early loss, the Warhawks are ranked just outside the top 25 NCAA Division III polls and qualified to the NCAA Division III tournament last season.
The Blue Angels are fresh off their first win of the season, something the Blue Angels have not done since taking the new moniker and joining the NCAA. MMU's impressive win came from an impressive defensive performance.
In the win over Marian, the Blue Angels swiped 16 team steals. Two of the Blue Angels took away five steals each in the game. Jess Runge (Sr./Freedom, Wis.) was one of those cagers and also dished out a game high six assists. Teammate Becky Onan (Jr./Grafton, Wis..) also had five steals while additionally catalyzing the offense with a career high 28 points.
Last season, the Muskies averaged 64.2 points per game while surrendering an average of 58.5. Lakeland earned a +5.5 turnover and also averaged 10.8 steals per game.
In 2015-16 the Blue Angels averaged 42.6 points per game while giving up 57.3 to their opponents per contest. MMU's bread and butter last season was their defensive attack as they average 9.3 steals per game and look to carry that into this season.
The Blue Angels will then await the results of day one of the tourney to find out if they play Dubuque or Calvin. Stay tuned to mtmaryathletics.com for news and game times.
