By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) drained eight 3-pointers en route to 28 points while leading the No. 9 Owens Community College women's basketball team to a 120-44 win over Lorain County Community College in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC) tonight.
Gulley, who finished 10-for-16 from the field, including an 8-for-13 finish from 3-point range, recorded just five fewer points than the entire Lorain County starting five. She also finished just two made 3-pointers short of tying the program's individual single game record.
Owens opened the game on an 11-0 run, which featured a pair of 3-pointers from Gulley and Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio). After Lorain County's Madi Bonner drained a 3-pointer to end the run, Owens scored the game's next 12 points and led 23-3 with 2:46 left in the first quarter.
Lorain County did manage to close the quarter on a 7-2 run. Reynolds scored a team-high nine points in the first quarter, while Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) and Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) provided seven and six rebounds, respectively. In the first quarter alone, Owens had 25 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive glass.
The second quarter was all about Gulley. The sophomore guard drained 6-for-6 from 3-point range, while Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) assisted on four of those 3-pointers. Outside of Gulley, who made all of her 3-pointers during a four minute stretch, nobody scored more than four points in the quarter.
Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.), who returned to the Owens lineup after missing the past 12 games, closed the first half with a fast break layup, plus a free throw after getting fouled, with two seconds left to give her team a 59-19 lead heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Owens scored 17 of the first 19 points to open up a 76-21 lead with 6:09 left. Later in the quarter, a 13-0 run propelled Owens to a 94-25 lead with 32 seconds left. Mekaila Grose (Madison/Mansfield, Ohio) closed the quarter with a pair of free throws, and Owens led by 69 heading to the fourth quarter.
Reynolds scored four points early in the fourth quarter as Owens scored six of the first eight points and led 102-29. Moments later, the lead was up to 75 following Gulley's eighth 3-pointer of the game.
Aysah Ingram (Trotwood-Madison/Trotwood, Ohio) then hit a layup with 5:39 left to give Owens its largest lead at 78. Lorain County scored nine of the game's next 12 points, but Bethea made four of four from the foul line in the final minute to provide the final margin of 76.
In addition to her 28 points, Gulley added six assists and five steals. Reynolds chipped in 19 points and six assists, and Williams added 16 points, 10 assists and four steals.
Grose and Bethea each scored 12 points off the bench, while Reese had 11 points, eight rebounds, six steals and three blocks. Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) produced a game-high 12 rebounds off the bench, as well.
Grose also had nine rebounds, while Kyra Johnson (Stevenson/Livonia, Mich.) had eight rebounds. Moreover, Ingram had 10 rebounds while falling two points shy of a double-double.
Angel Blakely led Lorain County (7-16 overall, 0-10 OCCAC) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Brandi Holowecky also reached double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, Owens finished 48-for-104 (46.2 percent) from the field, including a 14-for-28 (50 percent) mark from 3-point range. They forced 34 Lorain County turnovers, while winnings points off turnovers 45-7, second chance points 24-5, points in the paint 58-12 and bench points 38-12.
Owens, which improved to 17-6 overall and 8-0 in OCCAC play with the win, improved its program record regular season conference winning streak to 29. Coupled with Cincinnati State's loss, they are now at least three games up in the loss column on every team in the conference. They will take a seven game winning streak into Saturday's game against Sinclair Community College at 1 p.m. at home.
Notes
During halftime of Saturday's game, Owens will recognize the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Owens women's basketball teams. The 1994-95 team finished 13-1 in OCCAC play and won the program's first conference championship.