MILWAUKEE, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – Teams have to be wary of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference preseason favorites on their home floor and the Marian University women's basketball team found out why as host Wisconsin Lutheran College handed the visiting Sabres a 75-28 defeat inside the Recreation Complex, this evening, Jan. 9.

Marian missed its first eight shots of the game over a span of more than six minutes. By that time, the Warriors had already built up a 16-0 lead and never looked back. WLC shot over 43 percent (28-for-64) from the field, while holding the Sabres to just 20 percent (10-for-48) for the game. Senior Sarah Albert was the lone Sabres with more than one field goal made, going 3-for-7 for a game-high seven points.

"Their size posed a lot of mismatches for us tonight," Head Coach Bill Peters said when asked about the thing that makes Wisconsin Lutheran such a tough team to beat. "I said to my team, we can rattle them by shooting a good percentage and not getting killed on the boards. Well, that didn't happen."

WLC was led by Kristen Schulz, who stands six-foot, three-inches and poured in a game-high 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with 17 rebounds (9 offensive). The junior forward needed just 15 minutes to collect a double-double for the game. Melissa Klemm added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Bethany Unkefer came off the bench to chip in 14 points as well. The Warriors dominated the glass by a margin of 53-26.

With the win, Wisconsin Lutheran improved to 8-3 overall, 6-1 in the NACC, while Marian dropped to 3-10 (3-5 NACC) with the loss.

An Amelia Mirsberger three-pointer finally ended the drought that lasted 6:15, but it didn't turn the tide. The Warriors kept the pressure on, finishing the half on a 28-7 run to coast to a 44-10 halftime lead.

The second half would be much of the same as WLC continued to be a juggernaut at the offensive end, while forcing the Sabres into settling for shots from long range. Half of Marian's shots were attempted from long distance, while six of its 10 made field goals came from beyond the arc.

With more than half of the regular season NACC schedule left to play, there is plenty of time to turn things around. But how does a team rebound from a loss like this in time for Saturday?

"Get back in the gym tomorrow and see how mentally tough we can be," Peters said. "I hope we have a short memory."

The Sabres will look to get back on track as they go for the regular season sweep over Rockford University (6-7, 3-5 NACC) this Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is set for 4:15 p.m.