The Lakeland women's basketball team traveled to Owens Community College tonight and earned a tightly contested 65-63 win over the Express. This was a game of quarters. The Express started off strong and took a 20-12 lead after one quarter of play. The Express were paced by excellent free throw shooting as they went 7-7 from the line. The Lakers bounced back in the second quarter as they were led by Gabriella Moore's 6 points and a big 3 from Kennedy Coleman as the Lakers knotted the score at 28 going into the break. 

To start the second half, Lakeland's shooting went cold while the Express connected on a couple of 3-pointers to give the Express a 45-39 after 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, things looked bleak for the Lakers as they trailed by 12 points with 3 minutes to play after consecutive 3-pointers from the Express. Lakeland would not quit though as they switched their defense and put on a full court press to speed up the game and force turnovers. The strategy worked as Lakeland's defensive pressure led to Express mistakes. With the steals/turnovers, the Lakers quickly closed the gap and eventually took the lead at 63-62 with 23.5 seconds to play. Lakeland was then whistled for a foul in the backcourt and the Express converted 1-2 free throws to knot the score at 63. As time wound down, Kennedy Gadson drove the lane and was fouled by Owens. Gadson connected on both free throws as the Lakers closed out the game for the win.

Kennedy Gadson was the high scorer for Lakeland with 28 points. Joh'niqua Clay and Kanija Kimbrough each finished with 9 points while Gabriella Moore recorded 8 points for the Lakers. Monetta Hilory added 8 points in the Lakers win.

Next Up: The Lakers will play host to the Lorain County Commodores on Saturday (11/22) in Laker Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.