The Lakeland women's basketball team traveled to Port Huron, MI today to face the NJCAA's 20th ranked St. Clair County Skippers. The teams met earlier in the season at Lakeland and the Skippers beat the Lakers handidly. Since that time, Lakeland has steadily improved their game and were looking to split the season series. Despite a valiant effort, the Lakers came up just short as they got into a hole early and had 3 starters foul up before dropping the game by a score of 68-62. The Lakers had a rough start as they combined some early poor shooting with a couple of turnovers while the Skippers jumped out to an early 10-2 lead 3 minutes into the game. The teams would trade baskets for most of the rest of the period and the Lakers finished the quarter trailing 23-15. The second quarter was a continuation of the latter half of the first quarter as the Lakers deficit stayed consistently between 7-12 points. Whenever Lakeland looked like they might start to get it going, the Skippers answered. Lakeland went into the break trailing 42-30.

The Lakers were just getting started though. In the 3rd quarter, Monetta Hilory hit a jump shot to get the Lakers going. After a Skipper turnover, Kennedy Gadson made a layup to make the score 42-34. The teams would then trade baskets until Gadson made a jump shot to bring the Lakers within 9 points at 49-40. After a Skipper basket, Monetta Hilory connected on a 3-pointer to make the score 51-43. The teams would again trade points until Joh'niqua Clay grabbed a defensive rebound before Kennedy Gadson converted a 3-point play making a layup and the free throw to bring the Lakers with 6 points at 53-47. Following a Skippers basket, Clay would make a layup on an assist from Kennedy Coleman. Clay would then steal the ball and make a jump shot to bring the Lakers within 4 points at 55-51. St. Clair would then make a free throw before Kennedy Gadson was fouled with 3 seconds to play in the quarter. Gadson sank both free throws to bring the Lakers within 3 points, 56-53, as the quarter ended.

Fighting all the way back, the Lakers were primed to make a run to try and win the game. For the first 2 minutes of the 4th quarter, the teams would trade baskets until Raegan Perkins-Hirz made a layup to bring the Lakers within 1 point at 58-57. The Lakers would then miss a couple of shots and have a turnover while the Skippers took advantage to grow their lead back to 62-57. Again the Lakers fought back as Kennedy Gadson made a jump shot to make the score 62-59 with 5:17 to play. After a Skipper free throw, both teams would miss shots and committ turnovers as they went scoreless for the next 2 minutes. The trend was finally broken when Gabriella Moore sank a 3-pointer on a Joh'niqua Clay assist to bring the Lakers back within 1 point, 63-62, with 2:45 to play. Unfortunately for the Lakers, that's as close as they would get as they missed their next 5 shots before falling to the Skippers.

The Lakers finished with 3 players scoring in double digits as Kennedy Gadson led all scorers with 29 points and 5 rebounds. Monetta Hilory (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) and Joh'niqua Clay (11 points, 7 rebounds) had strong games for the Lakers while Gabriella Moore (5 points, 5 rebounds) and Kanija Kimbrough (4 points, 5 rebounds) also played well in the defeat. Raegan Perkins-Hirz finished with a bucket and 2 rebounds while Kennedy Coleman chipped in  a point and a rebound for the Lakers.

The Lakers finished 20-26 (76.9%) from the line but shot just 12.5% (2-16) from the arc.

Coach Gardy's Gab: "Credit St. Clair as they played well - when we challenged they answered. We also had some difficulty with their pressure defense - so something for us to work on. I was proud of our effort in battling back, but we made some mistakes and some poor decisions that were difficult to overcome. We were also undisciplned at times as we picked up some fouls that hurt us. Overall, it was a much better game than the first time we played them, so that's good, but we can play better. If we keep working hard and continue to improve, we will be able to play with any team in Region XII."

Next Up: On Saturday (12/6), the Lakers will face the Oakland Raiders in an 11:00 am tip.