SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's basketball team will continue Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play this week on the road as the team travels west across the Upper Peninsula to take on Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. The Lakers will play the Michigan Tech Huskies on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the SDC Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich. and will match up against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 1:00 p.m. in the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Lakers opened GLIAC play with a pair of home games against the Wisconsin Parkside Rangers and the Purdue Northwest Pride, splitting the weekend to hold a 1-1 conference record. On Thursday evening, the Lakers fell to the Rangers by a final score of 76-56. Margot Woughter led the Lakers with 19 points in the loss as she went 9-for-21 from the field. Junior forward Mattison Rayman led the Lakers with 15 rebounds in the game, including five offensive rebounds.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lakers earned a 68-58 victory over the Purdue Northwest Pride for their first conference win of the season. Woughter led the Lakers in points for the second straight game as the junior guard totaled a career-high 23 points in the game. Woughter went 8-for-16 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 in free throws. Rayman recorded a double-double for the Lakers with 11 rebounds and 10 points in the victory.
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. Lake Superior State will look to open conference play strong, as the team looks to improve on its 1-3 overall record to open the season. Through the first six games of the season, the Lakers average 57.7 points per game on a 38.4 shooting percentage and 34.8 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 the first six games of the 2021-22 season, the pair of Woughter and Bray has been leading the way offensively for the Lakers. Woughter ranks first on the team with 13.7 points per game while Bray follows with 12.2 points per game. Woughter heads into the second weekend of conference play in ninth place in points per game among her conference peers. Bray ranks near the top in numerous offensive categories in the GLIAC this season. The senior ranks third in both field goal percentage (59.6%) and three point percentage (47.1%).
Mattison Rayman leads the Lakers in rebounds per game with 10.7, which is second-best among all GLIAC players this season. Rayman also ranks second in the GLIAC in blocks per game this season with 2.0 as she also leads the Lakers in the category.
The Michigan Tech Huskies
The Huskies, currently ranked No. 24 in Division II women's basketball, hold a 2-0 GLIAC record following the opening weekend of conference play and a 7-1 overall mark this season. Michigan Tech's only loss this season came to then-No. 18 Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 20. The Huskies average 71.1 points per game this season on a 46.4 shooting percentage and a 36.2 mark from three. Michigan Tech is led by junior guard Ellie Mackay who leads the team with 14.8 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game while also averaging a team-high 30.9 on the floor each game. Junior guard Katelyn Meister (11.4 ppg) and sophomore guard Alex Rondorf (10.1 ppg) round out the team's top three scorers this season. The Huskies are led by Sam Clayton, who is in her fourth season as head coach at Michigan Tech.
The Northern Michigan Wildcats
The Wildcats will round out the weekend against the Lakers on Saturday afternoon after hosting Ferris State on Thursday night. Through eight games this season, the Wildcats hold a 5-3 overall record and a 1-1 GLIAC mark. Last weekend, the Wildcats split a pair of conference games as the team beat Northwood on the road and lost to Huskies in the team's second game of the weekend. Through eight games this season, the Wildcats average 56.4 points on a 35.6 shooting percentage and 41. 6 rebounds per game. NMU is led by sophomore guard Makaylee Kuhn who averages 16.5 points per game this season and 8.3 rebounds per game. The Wildcats are led by head coach Troy Mattson, who is in his 17th season in the role.
Up Next
The Lakers will take part in a holiday tournament in Saint Leo, Fla. on Saturday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 19. The first game will be played against the tournament host Saint Leo at 2:00 p.m. and the Lakers will play Southern New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.
For more information, visit lssulakers.com
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