Women’s Basketball Drops First Game of the Weekend Series at Davenport

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Lake Superior State women’s basketball team fell to the Davenport University Panthers by a final score of 79-49 on Friday, Feb. 5 at the DU Student Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. in the first game of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) weekend series.

First Half

The first quarter of play was high scoring between the two teams as the Lakers scored 16 points while the Panthers held the lead after the first ten minutes with 22 points scored. 

Jaden Wilder continued her strong play for the Lakers, scoring a three pointer to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead over Davenport in the first two minutes of play. Makenzie Bray added a field goal for the Lakers as they took a 5-4 lead over the home team with 7:10 left in the first quarter. 

Davenport would then go on a 10 point scoring run to take a 14-5 lead over the Lakers by the halfway point of the first quarter.  With just over a minute left in the opening ten minutes, the Lakers would add a pair of points from Mattison Rayman and three points from Bray to close the half trailing, 22-16. 

The Lakers offense struggled in the second quarter, scoring only four points while the Panthers built upon their lead scoring 15 points in the quarter. The first half ended with the Lakers trailing, 37-20. 

Second Half

The Lakers responded with a stronger third quarter, as Lake Superior scored 18 points while the Panthers added 21 points. 

LSSU scored the first five points of the quarter, to cut the Panthers lead to 12 points. Rayman made a free throw and added a layup while Hailey Voelker recorded a layup after a steal. Rayman finished the third quarter with a team-leading eight points. 

With just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Wilder added a three pointer for the Lakers and Bray would make a shot from behind the arc. The third quarter closed with the Panthers holding a 20 point lead, 58-38. 

In the final ten minutes of play, the Lakers were not able to overcome the lead that Davenport built in the game. The Lakers would drop the first game of the series against the Panthers by a final score of 79-49. 

Breaking Down the Game

Rayman led the team with a double-double as she recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds in the game. Rayman scored on 10-of-12 free throw attempts. 

The Lakers finished the game with a 25.9 shooting percentage, going 14-for-54 against Davenport. On the other end of the floor, the Panthers went 30-for-69 in the game to total a 43.5 shooting percentage. The Lakers scored on 17 of 21 free throw attempts to total an 81.0% percentage. Lake Superior outrebounded Northern Michigan, 42-41, in the game.

What’s Next

The Lakers and Panthers will wrap up the weekend series tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in the DU  Student Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.