The Lakeland women's basketball team traveled to St. Clair County Comunity College today to play the Milwaukee Area Tech Stormers in NJCAA action. A back and forth game saw the Lakers eventually fall to the Stormers by a score of 67-61. With the loss, the Lakers now stand at 2-2. Neither team was able to get much going offensively early in the first quarter as the score was just 7-6 more than half way into the quarter. The Stormers started to pull away as they took advantage of missed shots and held a 14-8 lead with just over 2 minutes to play in the quarter. Hilda Ismail then hit a big 3-pointer on a Trinity Jackson assist to cut the deficit to 14-11. However, that would be all the scoring for the Lakers as they stayed cold and the Stormers held a 22-11 lead at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, the Stormers increased their lead to 26-13 when Mya James hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10 points. After a Stormers basket, Ismail nailed another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 9 at 28-19. During the next couple of minutes, neither team could score as there were missed shots and turnovers by both teams.  Lauren Perry finally broke thru with a basket with just over 6 minutes to play to bring the Lakers within 7 at 28-21. The teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes until Jackson made another 3-pointer. After a Stormers miss, Ismail would make a layup to draw the Lakers within 4 at 34-30. The Stormers would eventually go into the break with a 37-30 lead.

In the second half, the Stormers would grow their lead to 9 points before the Lakers fought back. In the Lakers run, Trinity Jackson would hit a jumper and both Monica Devine and Lauren Perry would score layups to cut the lead to 39-36. After a Stormers miss, Perry would drain a 3-pointer to knot the score at 39 with 7:30 to play. Just over a minute later, the Lakers finally took their first lead at 43-41 after a Perry layup. The teams would trade baskets before Perry hit another 3-pointer gave the Lakers a 50-44 lead with just over 4 minutes to play in the quarter. The Lakers would then go cold and also commit a couple of turnovers enabling the Stormers to catch up as the teams ended the 3rd quarter tied at 51. The teams would go back and forth for most of the quarter and the Lakers trailed 60-58 after Arion Brown hit a free throw with just over 3 minutes to play. The Stormers would grow the lead to 4 points before Brown sank two more free throws to close the deficit to 63-61 with 1:22 to play. Unfortunately, the Lakers would miss 3 shots and commit 2 turnovers down the stretch as they fell to the Stormers.

Eight different Lakers scored today. Trinity Jackson led the way with a double-double as she collected 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Lauren Perry finished with 14 points, 7 streals and 5 rebounds while Arion Brown recorded 11 points and 8 rebounds. Hilda Ismail added 8 points and 4 rebounds while Mya James added 5 points. Monica Devine added 4 points and 6 rebounds in the Lakers defeat.

Gardy's Gab: "We got off to a slow start, but were able to battle back. Though it was a tough start, I was really pleased with our effort as the game wore on. Unfortunately, we just weren't able to finish it in the last couple minutes of the game. We need to regroup and come out with a lot of energy tomorrow against a tough opponent."

Next Up: The Lady Lakers will square off against the host Skippers of St. Clair County. The game is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm.