Quick Start Lead Earns The Lady Red Hawks A Road Win

Lake Michigan College jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first minute of their game with Glen Oaks Community College on Saturday afternoon.  The quick start along with a good defensive effort throughout the first quarter of forcing several Lady Vikings turnovers, led to many of the Lady Red Hawks easy baskets.  At the end of the first 10 minutes, Lake Michigan College held a 10-point lead (25-15). In the second quarter, the game slowed down with both teams struggling to score. Glen Oaks mounted a comeback and cut the lead to five points (27-22) mid-way through the period, but the Lady Red Hawks had an answer and quickly went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 11 points (33-22).  In the final two minutes, both teams traded baskets but the Lady Red Hawks outscored Glen Oaks 15-14 and went into halftime with a 40-29 lead.

At the start of the third quarter, the Lady Red Hawks turned the ball over on their first possession, but after this miscue, Lake Michigan went on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 16 points (49-31). Glen Oaks would not go away, but the Lady Red Hawks continued to respond with key defensive stops and their own baskets and they outscored the Lady Vikings 19-15  to hold a 59-44 lead entering the final quarter. In the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lady Red Hawks got off to another quick start, outscoring Glen Oaks 6-0 to extend their lead to 21 points (65-44). For the remainder of the quarter, Lake Michigan only scored seven points, but still outscored the Lady Vikings 13-11 and the final 72-55 score.

After the game, Head Coach, Patrick Daniel stated "We did a really good job of getting off to a quick start with our team defensive effort in the first quarter and then at the start of the third quarter which is really important for us, especially on the road. We were not always as sharp as we wanted to be on the offensive end tonight, but I am really happy with another win on the road."

For the game, Lake Michigan shot just 36% (25-69), but held Glen Oaks to just 26% (19-73).   As a team, the Lady Red Hawks had 54 rebounds, 15 assists, 15 steals, 8 blocks and forced Glen Oaks to commit 19 turnovers.  Lake Michigan had 14 turnovers.

Four players scored in double figures for the Lady Red Hawks led by Samantha Jenkins who had 20 points.  Jayla Bibbs added 17 points, while Monae Palmer scored 11 points and Morgan Hughes chipped in 10 points.  Bibbs also had a team high 10 rebounds and Jenkins led Lake Michigan with five assists and five steals.  Elasia Craig had a game high four blocks.  Lake Michigan is 15-4 overall and now tied for first place in the MCCAA Western Conference with a 7-1 record.

Lake Michigan will travel on the road on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 when they head to Muskegon Community College. Muskegon is also 7-1 in the MCCAA Western Conference and are currently ranked #20 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Poll.  Game time for this first place battle is 5:30 pm.