The Lady Lakers fell 91-73 to the Edison State Chargers on Saturday in Piqua, Ohio. The loss dropped the Lakers final regular season record to 24-2 overall and 10-1 in conference play. The Lakers finished as co-champions of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (tied with Edison State). The loss also ended the Lakers longest win streak in program history at 23 games. The road weary Lakers had a rough first half - 2nd quarter in particular. The Chargers played with a lot of energy and intensity as they celebrated sophomore day. With the victory, Edison State improves to 26-3 and 10-1. Lakeland appeared to battle through the initial celebration energy from the Chargers as they trailed just 20-16 at the end of the 1st quarter. However, Edison State took control of the 2nd quarter outscoring the Lakers 25-12 to take a commanding lead that Lakeland could not overcome. The second half was essentially played to a draw, but it was too late for the Lakers and with that, the streak ended. For the game, the Lakers shot just 12.5% (2-16) from the arc and under 57% (17-30) from the free throw line.
Lakeland had 4 players score in double figures as Armani Jackson led the way with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Rayonna Peterson scored 14 points and added 6 boards while both Julie Hajdu and Gianna Pegoraro chipped in 11 points each.
Gardy's Gab: "Edison State just came out with a lo of energy and effort. They played like they were playing for something and they wanted to win. Unfortunately, we were unable to match the effort level today. We'll get back to the drawing board and look forward to the possibility of playing them one more time."
Next up: The Lakers will receive a bye in the quarterfinals of the OCCAC tournament. They have already qualified for the a place in the final four which will take place later this week. Due to court complications, the location and times of the next round of games are currently undetermined. It is expected the location will be announced later Monday with the opponent and times announced late Tuesday or Wednesday (after the quarter final games are complete).
