The Lakeland women's basketball team traveled to Springfield, OH today to face the Clark State Eagles. Beating a team is a very difficult thing to do, especially on consecutive days, mission accomplished. The Lakers picked up the win today by a score of 54-48 improving their record to 9-8 and 6-3 in the conference. This was a game that Lakeland never seemed in danger of losing, but also a game in which Lakeland was unable to put the Eagles away. The teams would battle back and forth throughout the first half with the Lakers finally taking a 29-23 lead into the break. In the 1st quarter, Mya James hit 2 deep 3-pointers to help pace the Lakers. Lauren Perry also picked up 4 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, 4 different Lakers scored. Trinity Jackson led the way with 6 points in the quarter.

In the 3rd quarter, the Eagles took advantage of Lakeland misses to close the gap to 33-30 with 5:37 to play. The Lakers defense then stepped up and forced a 30 second violation before missing their next shot. The Eagles quickly converted a layup and the Lakers now held a tight 33-32 lead. On Lakeland's next possession, Lauren Perry fed Batoul Khaleefah for a big 3-pointer to give Lakeland some energy and a 36-32 advantage. After a Clark miss, Khaleefah fed Trinity Jackson at the line for a turnaround jumper and a 38-32 lead. Both teams did not convert on their next couple of opportunities before Monica Devine was fouled. Devine hit 1-2 free throws to push the Laker lead to 39-32. The Lakers defense then forced the Eagles into a miss. On the next possession, Khaleefah fed Jackson inside for a layup and a 9 point 41-32 lead. After an Eagle basket, Lauren Perry hit an 18-footer to make the score 43-34. The Lakers then forced a turnover before Mya James was fouled. James hit 1-2 free throws to give the Lakers a 10 point lead at 44-34. Lakeland closed out the period with a foul and watched Clark State hit 1-2 free throws to close the period with a 44-35 Laker advantage.

In the 4th quarter, the Lakers went the first 4 minutes without scoring. They also committed a couple of turnovers and missed a couple of shots allowing the Eagles to close the gap to 44-41. The Lakers finally broke through when Lauren Perry connected on two free throws to grow the lead back to 5 at 46-41. After the Eagles sank a free throw, Lauren Perry drove the lane and connected on a behind the back pass to a wide open Mya James. James calmly hit the layup to make the score 48-42. Both teams were unable to score on their next possessions before Perry connected on a step back 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 51-42 advantage with 3:05 to play. The Eagles then quickly scored while the Lakers tried to use the clock. In doing so, they got a little too complacent and picked up a 30 second violation. The Eagles would take advantage and score on a layup to close the Laker lead to 51-46 with 2:03 to play. On Lakeland's next possession, they again tried to use the whole clock and were fouled with seconds remaining on the shot clock. Lakeland missed both free throws and committed a foul. The Eagles returned the favor also missing both free throws. Trinity Jackson collected the rebound and was fouled immediately. Jackson connected on 1-2 freee throws to give the Lakers a 52-46 lead with 51.8 seconds to play. The Eagles then took advantage of the Lakers not wanting to foul. As a result they had a wide open lane for a layup shrinking the Laker lead to 52-48 with 40.9 seconds to play. On the Lakers next possession Layla Von Berndt collected a big offensive rebound to extend the Lakers possession. After a time out, Lakeland inbounded the ball to a cutting Lauren Perry who was fouled. Perry hit 1-2 free throws. Missing the second free throw, Von Berndt again came up with an offensive rebound.  This time she was fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws to give the Lakers the final edge at 54-48. 

Lakeland had 3 players finish in double digits. Trinity Jackson was the Lakers high scorer with 16 points. Lauren Perry finished her evening with 14 points while Mya James picked up 12 points for the Lakers. Monica Devine recorded 6 points and Batoul Khaleefah finished with 5 points in the Lakers win. 

Gardy'Gab: "A lot of credit to Clark State as they came out with a lot of energy and played hard the entire game. I was really pleased with our team effort as well. Our press gave them some difficulty in the 3rd quarter and we were able to battle it out in the 4th quarter. It was a good test for us and I'm proud of how we handled it. Real nice team win on a difficult trip."

Next Up: The Lakers will finish out their season with 4 straight games at home. The first game will be Wednesday (2/14) against the Cuyahoga Tricertops. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 pm.