The Lakeland women's basketball team played host to the 16th ranked Mid Michigan Lakers tonight in Region XII action. Lakeland fell by a final score of 77-71. Free throws and runs were the story of the night. Lakeland would jump out to a 6-0 lead on a bucket from Monica Devine and a pair of baskets from Trinity Jackson 3 minutes into the contest. MMC would then take advantage of Lakeland missed free throws and open shots to knot the score at 6. Lauren Perry would then get fouled and sink both free throws to give Lakeland an 8-6 lead before MMC went on a little run. Fueled by a a 3-pointer and a couple of missed Lakeland shots, MCC would have the final possession leading 17-10. Coming off a Lakeland missed free throw, MMC came down the floor and put up a 3-foot shot that bounced on the rim a couple of times before falling at the buzzer to give MMC a 19-10 lead at the end of the quarter.  To start the 2nd quarter, Lakeland again went on a run. Trailing 21-10, Trinity Jackson would hit a layup to bring the Lakers under 10 points at 21-12. After MMC scored on a layup, Layla Von Berndt hit a 3-footer in the paint. Lakeland then forced a turnover and Mya James hit an 8-footer to trim the deficit to 24-16. After a MMC miss, James would score again on a driving layup. Lakeland would then force another turnover and Hilda Ismail would drain a long 2-pointer to draw the Lakers within 2 points at 24-22. MMC would answer on the next posession with another long range 3-pointer. Lakeland would then miss a couple of close range shots, miss a couple of free throws, and committ a couple turnovers to allow MMC to grow their lead to 43-30. It was deja vu again though as following a Lakeland missed shot, MMC would hit a last ditch running bankshot at the buzzer to increase their lead to 45-30 at the break. 

Lakeland came out on fire to start the 3rd quarter as they used a high intensity defense to get back in the game. Lauren Perry and Mya James both connected on 3-pointers while Trinity Jackson added 4 points and Mya James hit a basket to trim the Lakeland deficit to 6, 49-43, just 3 minutes into the quarter. After a pair of MMC free throws, Monica Devine would score on a layup. On the next MMC possession, Devine would steal the ball and pass to Perry who fed James for another Lakeland layup to bring Lakeland within 4 at 51-47 with 5:30 to play in the 3rd quarter. The teams would trade baskets and with the Lakers down 7, Mya James would hit Lauren Perry for an open 3-pointer to bring the Lakers within 4 again at 56-52 with 2:28 to go in the period. Lakeland was then calld for a technical and MMC would sink both free throws. MMC would then go on a run taking advantage of Lakeland turnovers to close out the period with a 66-56 advantage. In the 4th quarter, the teams would trade baskets for the first 5 minutes before Batoul Khaleefah fed Arion Brown under the basket. Brown would convert the layup as she was falling to the floor. After a MMC miss shot, Trinity Jackson was fouled and sank two free throws to bring Lakeland within 7, trailing 75-68. The teams would then exchange turnovers until Lauren Perry hit a 6-footer to draw Lakeland within 5, at 75-70 with 1:20 to play. Lakeland continued to put high intensity pressure on MMC and tipped/deflected several passes out of play. Unfortunately, this allowed the clock to run down forcing the Lakers to foul and enabling MMC to close out the game at the free throw line.

For the game, Lakeland shot just 37% (10-27) from the free throw line while MMC finished at 85% (17-20).

Trinity Jackson led all scorers for Lakeland pouring in 22 points. Lauren Perry finished her night with 17 points while Carly James recorded 9 points for the Lakers. Monica Devine, Arion Brown, and Layla Von Berndt each added 6 points in the Laker loss.

Gardy's Gab: "It was a good effort by both teams overall. It could have gone either way. Too many turnovers and too many missed free throws to get it done tonight. We played hard at times and were patient, but we need to do that for 40 minutes. It was a good game overall though and we learned a lot about our team."  

Next Up: Due to opponents canceling their schedules, the Lady Lakers have an extended break between games.  Lakeland's next game is scheduled for Saturday, January 6 at Erie Community College. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.