SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State women's basketball team will take part in the Saint Leo University's Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel Classic on Saturday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 19. The Lakers will take on the Saint Leo Lions on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. and will match up against the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. Both games will be played at the Marion Bowman Athletic Center in Saint Leo, Fla.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Lakers continued GLIAC play on the road against the Michigan Tech Huskies and the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Lake State dropped both conference games last weekend as the team currently holds a 1-3 GLIAC record this season.
On Thursday evening, the Lakers fell to the No. 24 ranked Huskies by a final score of 92-51. Junior forward Mattison Rayman led the Lakers with 16 points in the loss while junior guard Margot Woughter followed with 14 points. Forward Makenzie Bray rounded out the top three scorers with 10 points for the Lakers while also leading the team in rebounds with six.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lakers dropped a 78-50 game to the Wildcats in Marquette, Mich. Rayman led the team in points for the second straight game as she posted 18 points while also adding a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman CeCe Hacker was the only other Laker to post a double-digit point total in the game as she finished with 10 points against Northern Michigan.
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 add to its win total at this weekend's tournament, as the team looks to improve on its 2-6 overall record to open the season. Through the first eight games of the season, the Lakers average 55.9 points per game on a 37.6 shooting percentage and 32.6 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 eight games of the 2021-22 season, the trio of Woughter, Bray and Rayman has been leading the way offensively for the Lakers. All three Lakers rank within the top-20 scorers in the GLIAC this season. Woughter ranks first on the team with 12.5 points per game while Bray (11.4 ppg) and Rayman (11.3 ppg) follow. Woughter heads into this weekend's games ranking 12th in the conference in points per game and fourth in the GLIAC in free throw percentage (90.9%). Bray sits in 11th place in the conference in field goal percentage (50.7%).
Mattison Rayman leads the Lakers in rebounds per game with 9.6, which is second-best among all GLIAC players this season. Rayman's 7.3 defensive rebounds per game is the top mark in the conference this season while she also ranks second in the GLIAC in blocks per game this year (1.9).
The Saint Leo Lions
The Lions have posted a 5-4 overall record to open the 2021-22 season, and head into the tournament this weekend riding a two-game win streak. Saint Leo has averaged 67.8 points per game this season on a 40.1 shooting percentage while adding an average of 37.2 rebounds per game. The Lions are led by junior guard Amanda Ulrich who is averaging an impressive 17.8 points per game this season as she has started all nine games for Saint Leo. The Lions have three other players who are scoring double-digit point totals on average (Ayanna Trigg, Tori Lesko, and Alex Button). The Lions are led by Anthony Crocitto, who is in his fifth season as head coach at Saint Leo.
The Southern New Hampshire Penmen
The Penmen hold an 8-1 overall record through the beginning stages of the season and head into the tournament on a six-game win streak. The Penmen will play the Lions on Friday evening before matching up against the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. Through nine games this season, Southern New Hampshire averages 74.6 points per game on a 43.0 shooting percentage and an impressive 44.2 rebounds per game. The Penmen have four players who are averaging 11 or more points per game, including leading scorer Adriana Timberlake. Timberlake, a junior guard, has averaged 14.4 points per game this season on a 46.8 shooting percentage. The Penmen are led by head coach Karen Pinkos, who has been in the role since the 2005-06 season.
Follow the Lakers!
For more information, visit lssulakers.com
Fans can purchase a live stream for Laker home games, here.
To purchase tickets, click here.
Follow Laker Basketball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for news, updates & more!
