SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's basketball team fell to the Alma College Scots in an exhibition game by a final score of 79-70 on Sunday, Oct. 31 in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
First Quarter:
The Lakers had a strong first half, and led the Scots 23-17 after the first ten minutes of play. Margot Woughter and Mattison Rayman each netted field goals in the opening minute of the quarter to put the Lakers ahead 4-2.
At the 6:14 mark of the quarter, Rayman scored her seventh point of the game with a three-point basket to give the Lakers a 9-5 advantage on the scoreboard. Later in the first quarter, junior forward Kelly Olthof recorded three consecutive layups for the Lakers as the team went up, 17-13. The Lakers closed out the first quarter with six of the final 10 points to hold a five point lead after the opening ten minutes of action (23-17).
Second Quarter:
The Lakers scored the first four points of the second quarter as Woughter made a layup and senior guard Mackenize Kalchik made a pair of free throws to extend the Lakers lead to double digits (27-17). Alma went on a six point run to cut the Laker lead to four points but senior guard Ella Bontrager responded with a three-pointer to go ahead 30-23.
Alma made it a one-point game with 3:48 left in the quarter when Grace Fosmore made a three-point jump shot (31-30) and the Scots would overtake the lead for the first time in the game less than a minute later with a field goal (32-31).
With 1:14 left in the first half, redshirt freshman Brittany Bowman, who played in her first game as a Laker, made a three-pointer to give her team the lead back (35-34). The Scots made a layup in the final minute of the quarter and the first twenty minutes of play ended with Alma holding a one-point lead (36-35).
Third Quarter:
Freshman CeCe Hacker tied the game (38-38) at 7:55 of the third quarter with her first career three-pointer. On the next Laker possession, Woughter gave the Lakers back the lead with another basket from beyond the arc (41-38).
The Scots would respond with six straight points to take a three-point lead over the Lakers (44-41) with just over half of the quarter left to play. Mackenzie Bray made back-to-back layups to regain the Laker lead (45-44) but Alma answered with seven points in the span of one minute of play. With 3:20 left in the quarter, the Scots led 51-45.
The Lakers followed with a rally of five straight points to pull within a point of tying the game (51-50) but the Scots closed out the quarter with five points of their own to take a six point lead (56-50) into the final 10 minutes of play.
Fourth Quarter:
Alma's momentum from the end of the third quarter carried over to open the fourth quarter as the visitor scored the first six points to build a 12-point lead over the Lakers (62-50). After Taylor Sas made a three-pointer with 6:55 left to go up (67-52), Woughter made three free throw attempts for the Lakers. A pair of layups by Olthof brought the Lakers back within 10 points of the Scots (69-59) with 5:02 left on the clock.
With 3:17 left in the game, Woughter pulled the Lakers within single digits (71-62) as Woughter scored her third basket from outside the arc in the game. Just over a minute later, Hacker made a three-point jump shot to bring the Lakers within eight points (73-65).
The Lakers could not find an answer in the final minutes of the game and the Scots won by a final score of 79-70.
Breaking Down the Game:
Woughter led the team with 17 points as she went 5-for-8 in the game, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Rayman followed with 16 points as she went for 4-for-11 in the game and 7-for-12 from the free throw line. Olthof rounded out the top three scorers for the Lakers in the game as she also finished with a double digit point total (10). Rayman's 14 rebounds led the Lakers while Olthof's eight rebounds ranked second. Woughter led the team in assists with seven.
The Lakers finished the game with a 40.4 shooting percentage, going 23-for-57 against Alma. On the other end of the floor, the Scots went 32-for-68 in the game to total a 47.1 shooting percentage. Lake Superior was outrebounded by Alma, 40-33, in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers will have a few weeks off before traveling to Cedarville, Ohio for a four-team tournament hosted by Cedarville University on Friday, Nov. 12 & 13. Lake Superior will play Cedarville on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:45 p.m. and match up against Ohio Dominican at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13.
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