Fast Tempo Aids In Lady Red Hawks Win

The Lady Red Hawks gave up the first two points of the game to Kellogg Community College in the first five seconds of the game on Wednesday night to go down 2-0. But after scoring on their first possession and then forcing a Kellogg turnover that resulted in a three-point scoring play, the Lady Red Hawks never looked back in their 85-62 win. From the start, Lake Michigan showed they wanted to play an up tempo game and they accomplished that early by racing out to a quick 17-6 lead in the first quarter. But the Lady Bruins would not go away and they were able to go on a 10-3 run themselves to cut the Lady Red Hawks lead to just four points (20-16). Lake Michigan managed to score the final three points of the quarter and at the end of the first 10 minutes, the Lady Red Hawks led 23-16. 

In the second quarter, Lake Michigan continued to keep their foot on the gas by again forcing more Kellogg turnovers due to their defensive pressure and then converting on the offensive end. Lake Michigan outscored Kellogg 22-13 in the second quarter to end their lead to 16 points (45-29) going in halftime.  For the first half, the Lady Red Hawks shot 52% from the field (19-36), while holding the Lady Bruins to 35% (12-34). Lake Michigan also hit 4-7 in three point shots (57%), while Kellogg missed all nine of their attempts.

At the start of the third quarter, Lake Michigan had three consecutive turnovers but Kellogg was unable to take advantage of the Lady Red Hawks miscues. Lake Michigan gathered themselves and once again went to their up tempo style on offense and strong defensive effort. The Lady Red Hawks outscored Kellogg 20-14 in the third quarter to further extend their lead to 22 points (65-43).

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Bruins hit three consecutive three-point shots and go on a quick 9-5 run (70-52) but again Lake Michigan responded with their own 9-2 run, which resulted in the largest lead of the game at 25 points (79-54). Lake Michigan outscored Kellogg 20-19 in the final quarter for the final 85-62 win. The Lady Red Hawks are now 17-5 overall and 9-2 in the MCCAA Western Conference.  This win also improved Lake Michigan's home record to 9-0.

After the game, Head Coach, Patrick Daniel stated "We wanted to play a more up tempo game tonight. This team knows our defense sparks our offense and in this game we executed our game plan on both ends and I extremely happy with our we responded after our close loss on Monday night."

For the game, Lake Michigan shot 45% (33-73) and held Kellogg to 31% (21-66).  Lake Michigan also outrebounded Kellogg 52-40 including 19 offensive rebounds. As a team, Lake Michigan also had 23 assists, 15 steals, nine blocks and forced Kellogg to commit 24 turnovers.

Three players scored in double figures for the Lady Red Hawks led by Jayla Bibbs who had a career-high 28 points. Monae Palmer added 16 points and Samantha Jenkins chipped in 12 points.  LaChelle Knox had a game high nine rebounds, while Palmer dished out a game high nine assists.  Bibbs also had five steals and Taylor Cegelis had three blocks.

Lake Michigan's next game is on the road when the travel to Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Saturday, February 9, 2019 for a 1:00 PM game time.