Lakers Ladies Push Through Tough St Clair Squad

Mt Pleasant, MI - The Mid Michigan Lakers women's basketball team improved to 6-2 on the season with a 74-66 win over visiting St. Clair Community College on Wednesday night.

Alexis Dunn made her return to the Lakers' lineup, but St. Clair County's length and speed—highlighted by 6'2" Kyrieona Carter—made early possessions challenging. Mid Michigan missed a couple of easy breakaways and struggled to generate second-chance opportunities, often limited to one shot per trip. Despite the slow start, the Lakers held a 14–12 lead after one.

SC4 opened the second quarter with an 8–0 run, including back-to-back threes, to take a 20–14 lead at the 8:00 mark. Grace Chinavare stopped the surge with a three of her own, and two minutes later, Abbie Lautzenheiser scored on a Madison Smith assist and completed the three-point play to give Mid its first lead, 23–22.

Chinavare struck again with a clutch triple to tie the game at 28–28 with 1:54 left in the half, but the Skippers closed strong to take a 34–30 advantage into the break.

St Clair carried their momentum into the second half, pushing the lead to as many as seven before the Lakers mounted a response. A perfectly timed backdoor cut by Gracie Mellinger put Mid back on top, 50–48, with under a minute to play. SC4 answered with a bucket and a free throw to retake the lead, but Alexis Dunn buried a buzzer-beating three to send the Lakers into the fourth quarter ahead 53–51.

Mid Michigan opened the fourth in a full-court press, wearing the Skippers down and converting turnovers into run-out layups and putbacks to build a seven-point lead. SC4 battled back, trimming the margin to 66–63 with 4:30 remaining, but the Lakers closed with poise.  A key late bucket by Delany Seaman pushed the lead back to nine, and when Northern Conference Player of the Week Madison Smith knocked down a free throw in the final minute, the outcome was sealed. Mid Michigan secured a 74–66 victory.

Seaman led all scorers with 18 points while Smith added 10 points seven boards and three blocks.  Abbie Lautzenheiser had another strong performance for Mid Michigan, scoring 12 points with six rebounds and two assists while Grace Chinavare added 10 points and two steals.

Mid will head to upstate New York on Friday where they will play SUNY Niagara on Saturday and Monroe Community College Sunday before returning to Mt Pleasant.