The Lakeland women's basketball team played host to Community Christian College of Detroit today in non-league action and came away with a solid 64-54 victory. Early in the first quarter, the teams battled and were knotted at 8. Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz then connected on a 3-pointer to give the Lakers an 11-8 lead. After a Lion basket, Monica Devine was fouled and sank 1-2 free throws to give the Lakers a 12-10 lead. The Lions would then miss their next shot and Trinity Jackson would grab the rebound and hit a releasing Devine on a long pass for a layup. The Lions would answer with a basket before Jackson closed out the quarter with a driving layup to give Lakeland a 16-12 lead. In the 2nd quarter, the Lakers used a balanced attack to slowly grow their lead. A pair of Jackson jumpers, a Hitt-Swartz 3-pointer, a pair of Devine free throws, and a couple of buckets from Monetta Hilory sent the Lakers into the break with a 34-25 lead.
In the 3rd quarter, the game got interesting. Early on, the Lakers built their lead to 39-25 on the strength of free throws and a Hilory jumper. The Lions then hit three 3-pointers in a row to close the gap to 39-34. Monetta Hilory would finally score for the Lakers on a layup to make the score 41-34, but the Lions would then connect on another 3-pointer to bring them within 4 points at 41-37. On the Lakers next posession, they worked the ball until they found Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz who buried another Laker 3-pointer. The teams then traded baskets before Trinity Jackson was fouled on the last possession. Jackson sank both free throws to give the Lakers a 50-41 lead at the end of the quarter. In the 4th quarter, the Lions would score the first 2 baskets before Monetta Hilory stole the ball and later scored a layup. The Lions would then score and Hilary would answer again with a spinning jumper. After a Lion miss, Trinity Jackson hit a driving layup to give the Lakers a 56-47 lead. From there, the teams traded baskets as the Lakers cruised to the win.
Lakeland was led by Jai'Lynne Hitt-Swartz as she connected on 6 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Trinity Jackson scored 16 points while Monetta Hilory recorded 15 points for the Lakers. Monica Devine finished her night with 12 points in the Lakers win.
Gardy's Gab: "It's been a hard week as the team is battling some colds and with the start of classes - it's a challenge. We were able to make some key shots throughout the night which was good. I was especially pleased that we were able to handle some adversity when the Lions made a 3rd quarter run. We were able to keep our composure and battle thru which is good. Credit the Lions as they worked hard and also made some nice shots. We've got to get this behind us as we have a tough challenge coming up this weekend."
Next Up: The Lakers will travel to Edison State in Piqua, OH on Saturday (1/18) to face the Chargers in OCCAC action. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
