SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) women's basketball team (2-24, 1-16 GLIAC) narrowly fell in the closing moments to the Purdue Northwest Pride (11-16, 6-11 GLIAC) by a final score of 63-61 on Thursday.
The Pride scored the first basket of the game, but a pair of buckets from Jaden Wilder (Manton, Mich.) helped the Lakers respond with six unanswered. LSSU would then go on a 9-0 run that was capped off with a CeCe Hacker (Omaha, Neb.) three-pointer from the wing to force a Purdue Northwest timeout after extending the lead to double-digits. The Lakers were able to extend the run to 13-0 coming out of the timeout, and they would go up by as many as 18 points in the opening quarter as a three from Breah Golden (Arcadia, Wis.) had LSSU leading 24-6. The Pride would try to push back, but the Lakers still found themselves leading 26-11 after an impressive first ten minutes of action.
The Pride were able to trim the lead in the second quarter, but multiple buckets from Grace Bradford (Maple City, Mich.) and another three from Hacker had the Lakers leading by 13 at the halftime break.
Purdue Northwest would not go out without a fight, and they managed to fight their way back in the second half, using a strong third quarter to tie up the game at 46-46 going into the final stanza.
Both teams would then battle back and forth the rest of the way, always seeming to have an answer for one another. The Pride were able to go up five points, but a three from Hacker followed by a fast break basket from Gracey Metz (Hartland, Mich.) once again knotted up the score. However, despite Hacker draining a shot from near half court in the closing moments, the Pride were able to do just enough to survive in the end.
Despite the loss, Bradford had another strong outing with an 18-point, 17-rebound double-double. Hacker also finished in double-figures with 12 points while notching 3 steals, and Brittany Bowman (Kingsley, Mich.) led all players in assists with 6.
The Lakers will close out the season when they host the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on Saturday, March 2 in Bud Cooper Gymnasium with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.