Th Lakeland women's basketball team played the Owens Express for the second consecutive time this afternoon at Laker Gym. After earning the win at Owens on Wednesday, the Lakers completed the season series sweep with a convincing 64-43 victory. Both teams came out determined to get the win in the 1st quarter. The quarter was tight throughout as the teams traded baskets. The Lakers finished the quarter trailing 12-11, but in that period, 6 different players scored, which was a good sign for things to come. In the second quarter, Lakeland took control early. Carly James got Lakeland going by making a sharp pass across the lane to set up Layla Von Berdt for a 6-footer to put the Lakers up 13-12. Lauren Perry would then steal the ball and score a layup to make the score 15-12. After an Owens basket, Trinity Jackson hit a step-back jumper for a 17-14 lead. Monica Devine then grabbed a defensive rebound and fed Perry who converted on another layup. After an Owens score, Jackson was fouled and connected on both free throws to make the score 21-16. After an Owens miss, Jackson hit a jumper for a 23-16 lead. Owens would score once more before the lakers closed out the quarter strong. Keys to the finish were Akira Lacey scoring a couple of baskets and Trinity Jackson connecting on a layup at the buzzer to increase the Lakers lead to 31-18 at the break.
In the 3rd quarter with the score 31-20, Mya James had a block to help thwart any thoughts of Owens making a comeback. On the ensuing offensive series, Hilda Ismail drained a jumper for a 33-20 lead. The Express would then connect on back to back buckets before James hit a driving layup to push the lead back to 11 at 35-24. Ismail would then steal the ball and feed Lauren Perry who was fouled. She connected on 1-2 free throws. After an Express miss, Perry hit a turnaround jumper from the right elbow. Perry would then get a steal and make a layup while getting fouled. Perry missed the free throw, but Layla Von Berndt grabbed the offensive rebound and fed a cutting Perry for another quick basket and a 42-27 Laker lead. The Express called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Lauren Perry stole the inbound pass and made a layup for a 44-27 lead. The Lakers closed out the period strong and led by a score of 47-29. From there, the Lakers cruised through the final quarter to earn the win.
A season high 9 different players scored for the Lakers today. Lauren Perry led all scorers with 20 points while Trinity Jackson finished with 14 points. Akira Lacey picked up 7 points while Mya James added 6 points for the Lakers. Batoul Khaleefah finished the afternoon with 5 points while Monica Devine and Hilda Ismail each picked up 4 points in the Lakers win. Carly James and Layla Von Berndt also picked up key buckets for the Lakers today.
Players Thoughts: Trinity Jackson: "We had really good teamwork today. I felt our energy was good and we worked hard throughout."
Gardy's Gab: "It's tough to play the same team back-to-back like this. We were able to make some minor adjustments from Wednesday and I was pleased that we didn't come into the game overconfident. I liked our energy and it was a solid overall team effort. We have a really short turnaround for Monday so we'll try to look at a couple of things tomorrow before making the trek to Hocking."
Next Up: The women's basketball team will have a quick turn around as they travel to Hocking College on Monday (1/29) to face the Hawks. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm.
