SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's basketball team will be back on the road this weekend as the team takes on the Purdue Northwest Pride and the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) games. The Lakers will take on the Pride on Thursday, Feb 17 at 6:00 p.m. EST at the John Friend Court in Hammond, Ind. and will follow with a game against the Rangers at 2:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the De Simone Gymnasium in Kenosha, Wisc.
Last Time Out
The Lakers are coming off a busy stretch, playing three games in six days. Lake Superior hosted Ferris State on Thursday, Feb. 10 and fell to the Bulldogs by a final score of 70-47. Freshman CeCe Hacker led the Lakers in the game as she tied her single-game career high with 14 points against the Bulldogs.
On Saturday, Feb. 12, the Lakers took on the Northwood Timberwolves in Midland, Mich. and fell to their conference opponent by a score of 89-57. Senior Makenzie Bray led the Lakers with 19 points in the win, which included 11 points in the first quarter. Junior Mattison Rayman also posted a double-digit point total against the Timberwolves as she scored 17 points in the loss. Rayman added 11 rebounds to lead the Lakers as she recorded her ninth double-double of the season.
The Lakers capped off the stretch of games with an afternoon home game on Tuesday, Feb. 16 against Wayne State. The game was rescheduled from Jan. 8 when the game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols going into effect within the Laker program. The Lakers fell to the Warriors by a score of 80-44 and were once again led by Bray, who scored a team-best 16 points in the game.
The Lakers
The Lakers are led by Brandon Lokken, is in his fifth season in the role, while assistant coach Allison Todd begins her third season with the Lakers. Through 20 games this season, the Lakers average 51.7 points per game on a 36.2 shooting percentage and 31.6 rebounds per game.
The team will look to a number of upperclassmen to help lead the Lakers after coming off a challenging 2020-21 season as the team felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Junior forward Mattison Rayman, who was named Second Team All-GLIAC last season, will be the driving force behind the Lakers after coming off a great sophomore season. Senior forward Makenzie Bray will be looked upon by Coach Lokken after a solid season for the Lakers last year while junior guard Margot Woughter will play a big role for the Lakers after missing most of last season with an injury.
Lake Superior State will also look for contributions from junior forward Kelly Olthof, sophomore guard Jaden Wilder, sophomore guard Jozie Bontrager, and junior guard Carson Nitz. The team will have one newcomer this season, CeCe Hacker, a freshman guard from Omaha, Neb.
Leading the Lakers
Through 20 games this season, the trio of Rayman, Bray, and Woughter have been leading the way offensively for the Lakers. Both Bray and Rayman rank in the top-13 scorers in the GLIAC this season and Woughter joins her teammates as the third Laker to average double-digits in points per game. Bray leads the team with 13.4 points per game to rank 10th among all GLIAC players while Rayman's 12.7 points per game rank 13th among her conference peers. Woughter has averaged 10.8 points per game this season. Rayman enters this weekend's contests ranking second in the conference in both rebounds per game (10.1) and blocks per game (1.4). The junior forward is one of two players in the conference this season to average 10 or more rebounds per game.
Junior Kelly Olthof leads the Lakers in shooting percentage this season with a 47.4% mark while freshman guard CeCe Hacker leads her teammates in assists per game this season with 3.0 per game, which is tied for sixth in the GLIAC this season.
The Purdue Northwest Pride
The Purdue Northwest Pride have posted an 8-15 overall record and a 5-11 mark in conference play this season. Purdue Northwest has averaged 62.9 points per game this season on a 41.3 shooting percentage and 32.4 rebounds per game. Earlier this season, the Lakers defeated the Pride by a final score of 68-58 at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie. The Pride are led by sophomore guard Dash Shaw, who ranks first among her teammates and sixth in the GLIAC, with 14.0 points per game this season. Shaw's 50.2 field goal percentage also leads the Pride and is tied for seventh-best in the conference heading into Thursday's game. The Pride are coached by Courtney Locke who is in her third season in the role at PNW.
The Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers
The Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers have combined for a 13-11 record through 24 games played, which includes a 10-6 mark in GLIAC competition. The Rangers enter the weekend riding a six-game win streak, dating back to Jan. 29. Through 24 games this season, Parkside averages 69.5 points per game on a 42.6 shooting percentage while adding 31.3 rebounds per game. The Rangers are led by redshirt junior guard Alyssa Nelson, who was named the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year, and leads her team with 21.2 points per game this year. Nelson leads the GLIAC in points per game, as she is the only player in the conference currently averaging over 20 points per game. Nelson ranks fourth in shooting percentage in the GLIAC (52.0%), sixth in three-point percentage (41.6%) and tied for fourth in rebounds (7.0). The Rangers are coached by Jen Conely who is in her third season as head coach.
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