The Lakeland women's basketball team played host to the Hocking Hawks today in OCCAC action. On sophomore day, the Lakers fought hard, but came up short in a 62-60 decision to the Hawks. With the loss, the Lakers fall to 7-6 in conference play and 11-11 overall. In the 1st quarter, the Lakers jumped out to an 8-1 lead on the strength of 3-pointers from Monetta Hilory and Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz. Following a Hawk 3-pointer, Nitzy Rios hit a three and the Lakers led 11-4. Over the remaining time left in the period, Lakeland went cold from the floor and committed a few turnovers as Hocking closed the gap. Lakeland ended the period leading 11-9. In the 2nd quarter, Hocking couldn't miss as they sank six 3-pointers to take the lead going into the break 33-22. For the game overall, Hocking connected on twelve 3-pointers.

In the 3rd quarter, the teams traded baskets early and then the Hawks hit a couple more 3's to grow their lead to 12 at 45-33 with 4 minutes to play in the quarter. Nitzy Rios then connected on a 3-pointer. Lakeland then forced a turnover and Monica Devine hit a 15' jumper to bring the Lakers within 7 at 45-38. Following a Hawk turnover, Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz connected on another 3-pointer to make the score 45-41. After a Hawk basket, Monetta Hilory answered with a driving layup. The Hawks would then make 1-2 free throws before Trinity Jackson scored on a driving layup.  After a Hawk miss, Jackson sank a 6' jumper and the 3rd quarter ended with the Lakers trailing 48-47. In the 4th quarter, Hocking started with a 3 and the Laker's Trinity Jackson answered with a 3 of her own. Following a Hawk miss, Monetta Hilory scored a layup to give the Lakers a 52-51 lead with 8:06 to play. Later, Jackson was fouled and she hit 1-2 free throws to put the Lakers up 53-51. The Hawks would then score a tying basket and then hit another 3-pointer following a Laker miss to put the Hawks up 56-53. The teams would trade a free throw before Hilory grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Jackson for a game tying 3-pointer at 57 with just over 4 minutes to play. The Hawks would answer with a bucket before Jackson hit a 15' jumper to knot the score again at 59. After both teams missed shots, Hitt-Swartz was fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws to put the Lakers back up 60-59 with under 2 minutes to play. Both teams would miss shots before Hocking scored with 55 seconds to play putting them ahead 61-60. The Lakers then missed and fouled quickly. The Hawks missed both free throws and the Lakers called time to advance the ball with 8.5 seconds to play. On Lakeland's last possession, they drove the lane hard. As the Hawk defenders collapsed Lakeland went for the kickout pass for the winning shot. Unfortunately, the Hawks got a deflection on the pass and that ended the comeback for the Lakers.     

Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz connected on six 3-pointers and led the Lakers with 19 points. Trinity Jackson had a strong second half and finished with 17 points while Monetta Hilory added 12 points for the Lakers. Both Nitzy Rios and Monica Devine finished with 6 points for the Lakers.

AC Haydu's Hints: "We played hard today. We really wanted to come out for the sophomores - we had really good energy, but we just couldn't sustain it throughout. We'll recover from this and get ready to hit the road next weekend. Overall, we are very proud of everyone's efforts." 

Next Up: The Lady Lakers will conclude their OCCAC regular season with a road game at Clark State next Saturday (3/1). Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.