The Lakeland women's basketball team played host to the Terra State Titans tonight in a matchup of conference opponents. In a contest that went down to the wire, the Lakers were able to pull out a 72-65 win over the Titans. With the victory, the Lakers record now stands at 8-1 (2-0 OCCAC). This was a tight match throughout as neither team was able to get much more than a 5 point lead until the minute of the game. Lakeland got off to a quick start in the first quarter and led the period throughout - including a 19-14 edge at the end of the quarter. The Titans battled back in the 2nd quarter and held a 5 point lead at one point until going into the break with a 36-34 lead. The 3rd quarter was similar in that the game stayed between 2-4 points throughout. The quarter finished knotted at 55. The Lakers got off to a fast start in the 4th quarter and were led by Madison Fueger's initial 5 points (layup and 3-4 FT's), Mya James' 3 point play amd a basket by Gianna Pegoraro. This scoring binge coupled with an improved defensive effort staked the Lakers to an early 66-57 lead with just under 6 minutes to play. The Lakers would then miss a few close range shots and a couple of free throws while the Titans were hitting their shots to close the gap to 67-65 with 2:56 to play. After both teams had a missed offensive opportunities, Zion Fussell was fouled and calmly sank both free throws to extend the Laker lead to 69-65. Lakeland continued to play strong half court defense and were able to force the Titans to take difficult shots that were missed. After a miss, Gianna Pegoraro was fouled and she sank both of her free throws to push the lead to 71-65 with 35 seconds to play. On the ensuing Titan posession, they missed another tough shot and Pegoraro was able to grab the rebound before being fouled again. Pegoraro connected on 1-2 free throws to ice the game for the Lakers.

Lakeland had 4 players finish in double figures. Madison Fueger paced the Lakers with 25 points (7-9 from the FT line) while Gianna Pegoraro finished with 16 points (8-10 from the line). Both Delaney Sullivan and Mya James scored 10 points in the contest while Zion Fussell pitched in 9 points in the win.

Gardy's Gab: "That was really an up and down game. Credit Terra as they played hard. We got into foul trouble early and it really impacted our ability to play how we wanted to play and get into a flow. A conference win is always good though. We have a challenging weekend coming up - so we'll prepare for that and keep working to improve."

Next Up: The Lakers will travel to Niagara County Community College this weekend to participate in the Thunderwolves holiday tournament. On Saturday, the Lakers will face off against Monroe Community College at 1:00 pm and then play host Niagara County on Sunday at 3:00 pm.