Lakers Drop First Conference Game of the Season to the Stonehill Skyhawks 

North Easton, Ma.—The Mercyhurst Women's Basketball team traveled to North Easton, Massachusetts, to play their first conference game of the season. The Lakers were unsuccessful in this matchup as they fell to Stonehill 72-54. 

How it Happened: 

    The first quarter of the game this evening picked up with a series of plays by Grace Clary, getting on the board early as she consecutively scored a layup off of an offensive rebound, hustled back to our side, blocking a Skyhawk shot, then scoring a three-pointer shortly after. Bailey Kuhns got her first points of the night as well with four minutes remaining in the first quarter, followed by a three from Cici Hernandez and a layup, made by Singo Lekeuneu, that closed scoring for the Lakers in their first ten minutes. Despite these great efforts, the Lakers struggled to keep up with Stonehill's luck from distance. The score going into the second quarter was 32-16, Stonehill leading. 

    The Lakers made less of an impact offensively in the second quarter, though players like Bailey Kuhns and Allyson Ross were still able to finish from the paint. However, Mercyhurst's defensive success differed greatly. Mercyhurst held Stonehill to only thirteen points in the second quarter, a significant difference from the first, made possible by the Laker's physicality and cohesiveness on defensive. 

    Coming out of the break and trailing the Skyhawks 45-27, Mercyhurst struggled to score until the five-minute mark, Kuhns driving to the net and scoring. After this play, Kuhns went on a run in the third quarter, going on a seven-point scoring streak, earning points from both the field and the free throw line. Kuhns's ability to capitalize on these opportunities helped the Lakers break the twenty-point differential, going into the final quarter trailing, 57-40. 

    Bailey Kuhns continued her scoring streak as she muscled through Stonehill's defense to earn the first Laker points of the fourth quarter. She followed this with three more layups throughout the ten minutes. To close the game, Allyson Ross sunk a corner three, assisted by Jenna Van Shaik. Though Mercyhurst remained resilient in their efforts on both ends of the court this evening, it was not enough as they fell to Stonehill 72-54 in their first conference matchup of the season. 

Highlights:

Bailey Kuhns was the highest-scoring player across both teams tonight, putting up 27 points. Ava Waid led the team in rebounds with 5, and Jenna Van Schaik led in assists with 3. 
 

Up Next:

The Lakers are set to take on Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut on Saturday, January 4th at 1:00 pm. 

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