By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The No. 7 Owens Community College women's basketball team continued its torrid path through the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) with a 113-38 trouncing of Lakeland Community College last night in the Student Health and Activities Center (SHAC).
Seven players scored in double figures for Owens, which improved to 23-6 overall and 13-0 in OCCAC. They will close the regular season on Saturday with a road tilt at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College beginning at 1 p.m.
In Wednesday night's game, Lakeland briefly held a 5-4 lead with 7:56 left in the first quarter. From there, it was all Owens as they scored the next 19 points to open up a 23-5 lead just 3:13 later. During the run, seven different players scored, and Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) led the charge with five points.
Lakeland trimmed its deficit to 13 behind back-to-back jumpers from Alex Owensby and Bre Conley, but Owens closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 31-10 lead into the second stanza. Mekaila Grose (Madison/Mansfield, Ohio) scored four of those eight points, while Kyra Johnson (Stevenson/Livonia, Mich.) and Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) had the other two buckets.
In the first quarter, every Owens player scored at least two points except one, which was Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio), although the freshman guard who only played three minutes in the first quarter scored seven over the final three quarters.
In the second quarter, Owens outscored Lakeland 30-13 to open up a 61-23 lead at halftime. During those 10 minutes, Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) scored a team-high eight points and pulled down three rebounds. Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio), Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) and Williams each added five points.
In the second half, Owens stepped up its defense and held Lakeland to single digits in both quarters and allowed only 15 total second half points. Lakeland finished 7-for-37 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Aysah Ingram (Trotwood-Madison/Dayton, Ohio) got things going offensively in the third quarter with seven points, while Reese chipped in eight more on 4-for-4 shooting. Ward added five more rebounds in the quarter as Owens stretched a 69-28 lead to nearly 60 with a 16-0 run over a 6:21 stretch.
Owens went on a 10-0 run that lasted from late in the third quarter through the first two and a half minutes of the fourth to open up a 72 point lead. Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Reese finished the run with back-to-back baskets.
After Lakeland's Aloneet Durden ended the run with a jumper, Owens scored the next seven points and led 102-34 with 3:30 left. Durden ended that run, too, but Owens followed with five straight points on a three point play from Bethea and a layup from Johnson.
Once again, Durden responded with a jumper, but Owens received three straight buckets from Ingram and Bethea to close the game on a 6-0 run.
Durden, who scored 10 of her team's 15 second half points, finished with a team-high 18 points along with eight rebounds. Her next closest teammate in scoring was Jaelah Dye, who had seven points and seven rebounds.
Meanwhile for Owens, Reese, Ward and Grose all tallied double-doubles. Reese led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Ward added 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, while Grose had 12 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and one block.
Other players in double figure scoring included: Williams with 16 points and a team-high seven assists, Gulley with 10 points and five assists, Bethea with 14 points, seven steals and six rebounds, and Ingram with 11 points and seven rebounds.
On the glass, Owens out-rebounded Lakeland 71-34 overall and 33-17 on the offensive glass. They held Lakeland to a 15-for-68 (22.1 percent) finish from the field, while making 46-for-96 (47.9 percent) field goals offensively. They also shot 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the foul line in the victory.
Additionally, the Owens bench produced 48 points, while holding Lakeland's to just four points. They held a 72-18 advantage in bench scoring, a 33-16 margin in second chance points and a 39-13 advantage in points off turnovers. They turned it over only seven times while dishing out 27 assists, as well.
Notes
With one conference game remaining before postseason play, Owens has reached triple digits in scoring in seven of 13 games. They are averaging 93.1 points per game during that stretch. They are leading the league in fewest turnovers, as well as most blocks, steals, assists, overall rebounds and offensive rebounds. They also have the highest 3-point field goal percentage and field goal percentage.
Last night's game marked the home finale for the Owens sophomore class. They finished 25-1 at home during regular season play and are now four wins away from becoming the winningest sophomore class in program history. With two more wins, they would become the seventh straight Owens team with at least 25 wins in a season.
Gulley, who added two more steals last night, now has 87 this year and is 16 away from breaking the single season record of 102 held by Elizabeth Harris (1997-98).
Williams added seven more assists last night. She now has 175 this year and 297 in her career. She is chasing the single season record of 226 and the career mark of 329.
Owens hasn't lost since Dec. 30. They have now won 13 consecutive games. Following Saturday's regular season finale, they have clinched a bye through the quarterfinals and will open Region XII District I semifinal play with a matchup against the winner of the game between No. 4 Columbus State and Sinclair/Edison on March 4 at Ohio Christian University. Owens has won two of the past three district championships, including last year.
The 113 points for Owens last night was their third highest of the season as a team behind a 116 point effort on Jan. 6 and a 120 point effort on Feb. 3.
The matchup against Cincinnati State will be an interesting one as Owens captured its closest win of conference play in a 68-65 victory on Jan. 23 at home against the Surge.