The Lakeland women's basketball team played host to the Edison State Chargers today in OCCAC play and came away with a hard-fought 62-57 victory. With the win, Lakeland's record improves to 11-5 overall and 6-1 in OCCAC play. In the 1st quarter, the teams traded baskets early. Trailing 13-10, Joh'niqua Clay scored on a layup to bring the Lakers within a point. After a Charger miss,, Kennedy Coleman drained a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 15-13. The Chargers would score to tie it before Coleman scored on a driving layup. After both teams missed shots. Monetta Hilory would hit a free throw after geting fouled to put the Lakers up 18-15 at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, Raegan Perkins-Hirz would start the scoring to put the Lakers up 20-15. The Chargers would then go on a little roll as they took advantage of a cold spell and take a 27-23 lead. Gabriella Moore would close out the quarter by scoring on a driving layup to draw the Lakers within 2 points, 27-25, as the teams headed for the break.

In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers spent the first 5 minutes trading scores with the Chargers. Gabriella Moore would score on a layup, Kennedy Coleman hit a free throw, Monetta Hilory scored on a layup - the Chargers answered everytime as they led 31-30 with just over 5 minutes to play. On Lakeland's next possession, Arianna Vera would get fouled and sink both free throws giving the Lakers a 32-31 lead. Following a Charger basket, Hilory would answer with a 10-footer to put the Lakers up 34-33. Again the Chargers answered and went up 42-38. The Lakers closed out the quarter with Joh'niqua Clay scoring on a driving layup to bring the Lakers within 3 points at 43-40. In the 4th quarter, the Chargers scored the first basket. Kanija Kimbrough answered with a layup. Following an Edison State miss, Kennedy Coleman nailed a 3-pointer to knot the score at 45. The Lakers would then force a Charger turnover and Raegan Perkins-Hirz would finish the play by grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring on a layup. The teams would continue to trade baskets over the next few minutes until the score was tied at 55 with 2:38 to play. On the Lakers next possession, Kennedy Coleman was fouled and sank two free throws for a 57-55 Laker lead. The Chargers then score to tie it again before Kanija Kimbrough scored on a layup for a 59-57 Laker advantage with 1:40 to play.  For the next 40 seconds, the teams battled each other with several tips and dives for the ball. The teams scrambled relentlessly until finally a jump was called with under 50 seconds to play. The possession arrow favored the Lakers. Lakeland then ran an inbounds play from mid-court that found Gabriella Moore by the Charger basket. Moore took the pass and scored a big basket putting the Lakers up 61-57. From there, the Lakers closed out the game for the win.

Overall, Lakeland had a very balanced scoring attack while 3 players finished the game scoring double digits. Kennedy Coleman was the teams leading scorer with 13 points. Kanija Kimbrough and Gabriella Moore both finished wih 12 points while Monetta Hilory recorded 8 points for the Lakers. Raegan Perkins-Hirz and Joh'niqua Clay both added 6 points while Arianna Vera scored 5 points in the Lakers win. 

Coach Gardy's Gab: "We matched intensity the whole game. We played 40 minutes - one of our best games of the year so far. We pushed it, rebounded well, had decent shot selection. Credit Edison as they are a good team that really pushed us. Today was just about our overall grit - we played hard and competed. "

Next Up: Lakeland will have a quick turnaround as they head to Walsh on Tuesday (1/20) for a non-league game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.