SAULT STE, MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's basketball team earned their first road win of the season in a hard-fought 62-56 victory over the Purdue Northwest Pride in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game on Friday, Feb. 18 at the John Friend Court in Hammond, Ind.
First Half:
The Pride came out strong in the first quarter to hold a 19-13 lead after the first ten minutes of play but the Lakers responded in the second quarter to outscore Purdue Northwest by a 14-12 mark. At the end of the first half, four points separated the two conference teams with the Pride holding a 31-27 lead.
The first few minutes of the opening quarter were low scoring as the Lakers held a 5-2 lead through four minutes of the game. Makenzie Bray scored four of the team's first five points as she made a jumper and a layup for the Lakers to open the game. Freshman CeCe Hacker made two free throws to give the Lakers a 7-2 lead at 5:38 of the quarter.
The Pride regained the lead (10-9) at 2:02 of the first quarter after Mercedes Simmons scored six consecutive points for her team. Bray would make a layup on the next possession to regain the Lakers lead (11-10) with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
In the final 1:16 of the first quarter, the Pride scored nine points including three-pointers from Abbie McDowell and Dash Shaw to give the home team a 19-13 after the first ten minutes.
The Lakers would score the first two points of the second quarter at 7:07 when Bray made a layup after a defensive rebound by Carson Nitz. Mattison Rayman made consecutive free throws with 5:25 left in the first half and Bray added another layup as the Lakers cut the deficit to two points (21-19). Hacker netted a three-pointer with 4:20 left in the half to keep the Lakers within one point (23-22) of tying the game.
In the closing two minutes, Hacker made another jump shot and with :33 seconds left on the clock made her second three-pointer of the half to pull the Lakers within two points (29-27). Shaw made a layup for the Pride at the buzzer to give the home team a 31-27 lead at the end of the first half.
Second Half:
The third quarter remained evenly matched between the two GLIAC teams as the Pride posted 16 points compared to 15 points by the Lakers. Rayman made a pair of layups in the first minute of the second half to tie the game at 31.
The Pride responded with the next six points to take a 37-31 lead with 5:43 left on the clock. Junior Kelly Olthof made a layup with 5:27 left (37-33) and after the Pride extended their lead to seven points (40-33) with under four minutes to play. Olthof hit a big three-pointer for the Lakers with 2:05 left on the clock to bring her team within five points (44-39).
Margot Woughter made back-to-back free throws for the Lakers with 1:22 left in the game and Olthof also made a free throw to come back within a pair of points (44-42) with :23 seconds left in the quarter. Purdue Northwest added three points in the final seconds to hold a five point advantage at the end of 30 minutes of play (47-42).
The Lakers finished the game strong, outscoring the Pride, 20-9 in the final quarter to seal the road win. Bray, who led the team offensively in the game, made a three-pointer in the first minute of the final quarter to bring the Lakers back within a pair of points (47-45). Bray's layup with 7:18 left in the game tied the game at 47.
Rayman made two free throws with just about five minutes left in the game to tie the score at 49. Hacker's jump shot with 4:22 left on the clock regained the lead for the Lakers (51-49). Shaw would even the score at 51 with 2:26 to play but Rayman added a layup on the next possession to quickly regain the Laker lead (53-51). LSSU would hold off the Pride in the final minutes of play as the Lakers extended their advantage to seven points (58-51) with :37 seconds left.
Purdue Northwest would come within four points in the final 10 seconds but the Lakers clinched the conference road win by a final score of 62-56.
Breaking Down the Win: Bray led the Lakers with 21 points in the win as she went 8-for-14 from the field for the Lakers. 11 of Bray's 21 points came in the final quarter. Hacker followed with 12 points in the win, including a team-leading two three-pointers. Rayman, who tied her single-game career-high in rebounds with 20 in the win, rounded out the team's top three scorers with 11 points against the Pride.
The Lakers finished the game with a 40.8 shooting percentage, going 20-for-49 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Pride went 21-for-60 in the game to total a 35.0 shooting percentage. Lake Superior State outrebounded Purdue Northwest, 42-32, in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers will play their final road game of the regular season tomorrow afternoon as the team takes on the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2:00 p.m. EST.
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