The Lakeland women's basketball team is starting to hit its' stride. Over the past couple of weeks, they have steadily improved and that trend continued tonight. The Lakers hosted the NJCAA's 16th ranked Niagara County Thunderwolves and came away with a well-played 78-71 victory. With the win, the Lakers improved to 11-8 overall as they handed the Thunderwolves their second loss of the season. To start the game, Niagara County (NC) took an early 8-2 lead. The calm Lakers fought right back as Trinity Jackson hit a jumper. After a NC free throw, Lauren Perry conveted a layup and the free throw after she was fouled. After another NC free throw, Perry drained a deep 3-pointer to knot the score at 10. Following a NC miss, Jackson made a nice pass to Mya Jackson cutting to the hoop for the easy layup. NC would score and Lakeland's Monica Devine answered right back with a layup. NC would miss their next shot and the Lakers would convert on a driving shot from Batoul Khaleefah. NC then hit a 3-pointer before Lauren Perry was fouled. Perry calmly stepped to the line and sank both free throws for an 18-15 advantage. NC would hit a free throw before Khaleefah would score again on an 8-foot bank shot to give the Lakers a 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the two teams would exhange baskets until NC was able to take advanatge of Laker turnovers and grab a 29-28 lead with under 2 minutes to play in the half. Lakeland quickly answered as Trinity Jackson would drive the baseline and score to regain the Laker lead at 30-29. After a NC miss, Batoul Khaleefah was fouled on the rebound. Khaleefah hit both free throws to make the score 32-29. NC would later get fouled and sink both free throws to bring them within 1 at 32-31. On Lakeland's next possession, Khaleefah would find Jackson on a backdoor cut to put the Lakers up 34-31. NC hit a free throw to send the teams into the break with a 34-32 Laker advantage.
The 3rd quarter started with a Lauren Perry steal and layup to increase the Laker lead to 36-32. NC would then take advantage of a Laker miss and turnover to knot the score at 36. The teams would trade baskets until the score was tied at 46. Lauren Perry would then connect on a free throw before NC came down and hit a 3-pointer to take the lead at 49-47. Lakeland would miss it's next shot and NC would hit another 3-pointer to take a 52-47 lead at the end of three quarters. To start the 4th quarter, Lauren Perry, Mya James, and Trinity Jackson would each score around a pair of NC buckets to cut into the lead at 56-53. On Lakeland's next play, Trinity Jackson put a spin move on the defender before scoring and cutting the deficit to 1 at 56-55. After a Laker foul, NC hit both free throws to make the score 58-55. Lauren Perry would then feed Monica Devine under the basket as Devine converted the bucket. After a NC 3-point play, Perry connected on a free throw before NC sank two more free throws to make the score 63-58 in favor of NC with 5:40 to play. On Lakeland's next possession, Mya James connected for a deep 3-pointer to bring the Lakers within two at 63-61. Trinity Jackson would then block a shot and Monica Devine connected on 1-2 free throws after being fouled. Devine would grab a defensive rebound on the next possession and get fouled again. This time, Devine connected on both free throws to give the Lakers a 64-63 lead with 4:42 to play. Lakeland would then turn up the defensive pressure and force a NC turnover before Perry fed Devine for another bucket and a 66-63 Laker lead. Lakeland would then collect another turnover and Perry would pick up another assist as she fed Trinity Jackson for a layup. After a couple of missed shots by both teams, Jackson was fouled driving to the basket. Jackson connected on both free throws to grow the Laker lead to 70-63 with 2:45 to play. From there, the Lakers cruised to the victory.
Lakeland had a season high 5 players finish in double digits. Lauren Perry was the Lakers high scorer with 24 points. Trinity Jackson picked up 16 points while Mya James added 15 points for the Lakers. Monica Devine finished her evening with 11 points while Batoul Khaleefah chipped in 10 points in the Lakers win.
Hajdu's Hits: "This was a great win by the Lady Lakers. We got into some foul trouble, but still worked real hard and were able to come out on top. Niagara is a good team. We really competed for 40 minutes. I'm really proud of the team for their hard work and determination."
Next Up: The Lakers will get a little break before they host their next game on Saturday (2/24) against the Hocking Hawks. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
