Box Score Essex, MD – With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Lackawanna College Women's Basketball Team faced one of its biggest road challenges of the year.  The Lady Falcons traveled to Maryland to take on #12 ranked CCBC-Essex in a game that pitted two teams who had not lost since December.  The Lady Knights came into the game riding a 13 game winning streak, while Lackawanna had won 15 in a row.  Both teams knew that a win would give them huge momentum heading into their Region tournaments.

The first quarter started with Essex striking first, but Kiana Williams answered with a jumper from the free throw line to tie the game 2-2.  Unfortunately, on the next two possessions, the Lady Knights connected on two straight 3's, followed by a 3-point play, to take an 11-2 lead.  On defense, Kiana Williams blocked a shot, which turned into a 3-pointer by Kyla Smith.  She would add another 3-pointer and suddenly the Lady Falcons were back in the game, trailing 12-8.  However, Essex answered with a 3 of their own, to go up 16-8.  Kiana Williams would get the ball down low and trim the Lady Knights lead to 16-10.  Essex would then go on an 8-2 run to end the quarter, leading 24-12.

Lackawanna started the second quarter off with a defensive rebound, which turned into a transition basket, cutting the lead to 10 points.  The defensive began to find their footing and forced another turnover, which resulted in a fast break basket by Kyla Smith.  Another transition basket by Briaunna McCullough cut the lead to 6, but the Lady Knights came back and hit a 3-pointer, to go back up 29-20.  After a time-out, Essex came out in a zone and forced a turnover.  On the next offensive possession, they were able to draw a foul on a 3-point shot, but only converted 1 of 3 free throws.  McCullough would make them pay, as she took the ball down for a jumper in the paint, to once again cut the lead to under double digits, 30-22.  As the half ended, CCBC-Essex would take a 35-25 lead into the locker room. 

To start the third quarter, the Lady Falcons scored first but Essex answered with the next 5 points, to go up 40-27.  On the next play, the Lady Knights forced a turnover and were able to convert on a fast break layup, to increase their lead to 15 points.  Lackawanna had a difficult time finding the basket, until Kiana Williams converted on a layup.  However, Essex would come back down and hit another 3-pointer to take a 47-29 lead.  The Lady Falcons would add two straight 3-pointers of their own, to trim the lead to 47-35, but the Lady Knights quickly answered with a 3-pointer, to go up 50-35.  They would then go on a 9-4 run to trim the lead to 55-44.  Kyla Smith cut the lead to 9, when she stole the ball and took it down the court for a layup.  However, once again, Essex would convert on two 3-pointers to stop the Falcons' run.  At the end of the quarter, CCBC-Essex enjoyed a 61-48 advantage. 

The first minute of the fourth quarter saw both teams trade 3-pointers to keep the lead at 13 points.  However, the Lady Knights added two more and jumped out to a 70-52 lead.  Keyanah Price came down and hit a jumper, and Coach Whittington quickly called a time out.  Next, Alayah Cowan took a Ciaira Loyd pass in the corner, converting on a 3-pointer and followed that up with a transition layup to trim the lead to 72-59.  However, no matter what Lackawanna did, Essex seemed to have an answer for it.  Another 3-pointer by the Lady Knights, gave them a comfortable lead 79-61.  As the buzzer sounded, the Lady Falcons, would suffer just their fourth loss of the season, 85-71.               

With the loss, Lackawanna falls to 23-4, but has already clinched the #1 seed in the Region XIX tournament.  They were led by Kyla Smith with 15 points, followed by Keyanah Price with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Alayah Cowan came off the bench to score 12 points and grab 7 rebounds, while Briaunna McCullough added 10 points for the Lady Falcons.  Lackawanna has a quick turnaround, as they host the #1 ranked team in the NJCAA Division III, Nassau Community College, at the Historic Student Union on Friday February 21st.  Nassau is undefeated on the season and the Lady Falcons are looking to defend their own undefeated home court record.  It is staff apperception day and tip-off is scheduled for 2:00pm.