By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Kirtland, OH---Sophomore forward Aja Hall (Fostoria/Fostoria, OH) and sophomore point guard Kieona Foster (Shawnee/Lima, OH) led the No. 9 Express women's basketball team past Lakeland 74-45 on the road Wednesday night.
Hall finished 8-for-19 overall from the field, 1-for-3 from three point range and 7-for-12 from the foul line to finish with 24 points, nine rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes. Foster shot 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the foul line to finish with 10 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals in 26 minutes. It was her seventh double figure rebounding game of the season and her third with 14. Hall and Foster each had six rebounds on the offensive end.
With her big game, Hall moved into eighth place on the career scoring list with 840 points. She passed Dawn Spencer (818) and Robin Nesper (837). Next up is Stephanie Galant, who has 856 points.
Owens jumped out to a 36-16 lead at halftime before cruising to the 29 point victory.
Aside from Hall and Foster, Emma-Jean Ricketts (Anthony Wayne/Waterville, OH) had 14 points, five rebounds and one steal in 20 minutes. Mackenzie Heacock (Arlington/Arlington, OH) and Uniqua Mitchell (MLK/Detroit, MI) each added eight points, while Karahn Scott (Scott/Toledo, OH) had six points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal. Danielle Bezeau (Swanton/Swanton, OH) had a scrappy game with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Hailey Galvan (Archbold/Archbold, OH) added a team-high six blocks, along with two points, three rebounds and two steals. She now has eight games of six or more blocks this year and has 97 total blocks in 17 games played. With eight games remaining in the regular season plus the postseason, Galvan is 30 blocks short of tying the school record for most in a season and 48 from tying the career record.
Diminika King had a monster game for Lakeland as she finished with 11 points, 21 rebounds (11 offensive), six blocks and one steal in 30 minutes. Emily Brainard led Lakeland in scoring with 15.
Owens shot 27-for-73 overall from the field, 3-for-12 from three point range and 17-for-26 from the foul line. Meanwhile, Lakeland shot 19-for-76 overall, 2-for-19 from three point range and 5-for-7 from the foul line. Despite the monster game from King, Lakeland was outrebounded by Owens 58 to 49. Both team had 24 offensive rebounds.
The Express held also held advantages in assists (11-7), turnovers (17-24), blocks (9-7), steals (11-8), points in the paint (46-14), points off turnovers (26-10), second chance points (21-15), and bench points (34-10). They held their largest lead of the game at 31 with 13:44 remaining in the game. Lakeland never led in the game.
Coming off their OT loss to No. 2 Cincinnati State, the Express (18-4, 4-1 OCCAC) only fell one spot to No. 9 upon the release of the latest NJCAA Div. II poll prior to Wednesday's game. Their next game is this coming Monday Jan. 30 in Ada, OH against Ohio Northern University JV at 7 p.m.