By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---The No. 4 Owens Community College women's basketball team struggled to find a groove offensively, but were able to grind out a 69-59 win over Muskegon Community College in its home opener tonight.

In the first period, Owens got a pair of 3-pointers from Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) to take a 7-3 lead. After a Muskegon basket by Francesca Cerniglia, a 6-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Mekaila Grose (Madison/Mansfield, Ohio) gave Owens a 13-5 lead with 3:21 remaining.

The lead remained the same as Owens took a 16-8 advantage into the second quarter. However, both teams struggled to find a flow offensively early in the quarter. Muskegon's Kamaryia Williams broke a stalemate by hitting a jumper with 6:38 left that provided the first points of the period for either team. In fact, she kept things going and scored the first eight points in a 10-0 run that gave her team an 18-16 lead with 3:44 left in the half.

At that point, Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) and Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) energized the Owens offense and took the lead back for good. Williams hit a free throw, followed by a 3-pointer from Reynolds, along with a 3-pointer and a lay-up from Williams to give Owens a 25-20 lead with 2:13 left in the half. After a lay-up from Kyra Johnson (Stevenson/Livonia, Mich.), Reynolds closed the half with a lay-up and a 3-pointer to give Owens a 32-22 lead through 20 minutes.

In a back-and-forth third period that saw both teams score 18 points, Owens never led by fewer than seven. Then, in the fourth, Owens got things going early in the period by scoring 12 points over the first four minutes to take a 62-45 lead. Reynolds capped a 10-2 run with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Williams then scored six points down the stretch to help Muskegon close the game on a 14-7 run. She led all scorers with 25 points, while adding six rebounds and five steals.

While Williams was the lone Muskegon player in double figures, Owens had four players reach at least 10, led by 16 from Reynolds. The sophomore guard finished 6-for-9 from the field and 4-for-6 from 3-point range off the bench.

Another nice game off the bench came from Johnson, who had six points, eight rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes.

Aysah Ingram (Trotwood-Madison/Dayton, Ohio) was a force on the glass all game for Owens. The freshman center totaled 12 points and game-highs in rebounds (16) and blocks (3). Ten of her rebounds came on the offensive glass, and she is now averaging 12 rebounds per game this year.

Assisting Reynolds and Ingram in scoring were Gulley and Williams, who each had 11 points. Williams added a game-high seven assists, and Gulley had a team-high four steals.

Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) added eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

Defensively, Owens held Muskegon to an 18-for-66 (27.3 percent) performance from the field, and a 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) finish from 3-point range. The visitors scored over one-third of their points from the free throw line as they made 20-for-30 in the game.

Owens held a 15-point advantage from the 3-point line in the game by netting 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from long distance despite struggling from the foul line (13-for-25, 52 percent). After getting out-rebounded in the first half, Owens finished with a 54-46 advantage in the game.

Tonight was Muskegon's season-opener, while Owens improves to 2-1 with the win. They will travel to Oakland Community College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup.

Notes

Tonight was the 45th straight regular season home win for Owens.