The Lakeland women's basketball team traveled to Terra State to play the Titans tonight and came away with a hard fought 82-77 victory. With the win, the Lakers record improves to 18-2 overall and 7-0 in OCCAC play. Lakeland got off to a slow start and trailed by 15, 26-11, at the end of the 1st quarter. The Lakers would start to turn the tide in the second quarter as they won the quarter, 20-19, but more importantly, got themselves started and gained some momentum to go into the second half. Zion Fussell and Gianna Pegoraro led the Lakers with 6 points each in the quarter. Lakeland would then come out in the 3rd quarter with a dominating effort which would basically erase the deficit. At the end of the 3rd quarter, they cut the lead to 1, trailing 61-60. Three's were key in the period as Mya James connected for three 3-pointers while Alesia Marshall and Lauren Perry also connected with the long ball. Lakeland then closed the game out in the 4th quarter with strong play that overwhelmed the Titans for the victory. Perry added 9 points for the Lakers including another 3 pointer and 2 key free throws. James also added another 3 and 6 points in total for the quarter.
Lauren Perry led the Lakers with 24 points while Mya James finished her night with 15 points. Zion Fussell added 14 points and Madison Fueger picked up 11 points for the Lakers. Gianna Pegoraro scored 9 points while Alesia Marshall finished with 8 points in the Laker win.
Gardy's Gab: "They jumped on us early with several transition baskets and second chance points. They are a tough team - especially at home. We knew it would be a challenge there. We got into foul trouble early and so had to adjust. Fortunately we were able to do that and really came out to play in the 3rd quarter and that was the difference in the game. I'm proud of how we handled the adversity - it was a good team win."
Next Up: On Saturday, the Lakers will play host to the Eagles of Clark State. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 pm. The tip will be approximately 20 minutes after the men's game ends.