Box Score 12/7/24

EDISON, NJ -- Lackawanna College women's basketball overcame a slow first quarter to eventually pull out a tough 51-46 win on the road at Middlesex College on Saturday afternoon in Region XIX DII women's play.
 
The Falcons (7-4, 4-2) fell behind by an 8-0 margin early, failing to convert on a bucket through the opening four-and-a-half minutes, but E'ternity Aiken (Wilkes-Barre, PA) made a shot in the paint to break the ice, and the Falcons closed to make it a 9-9 first quarter.
 
Middlesex (4-5, 1-3) tried to get back to a similar start by jumping out in the second and held a lead heading towards the midway point of the quarter at 20-17, but the Falcons hit a crucial six-point spurt that swung the game. Sophia Summa (Dunmore, PA) made a trio of defensive steals that turned into points, with Jayla South (Long Pond, PA) scoring the bucket that gave Lackawanna the lead at 21-20 off a nice feed from Kalea Ferguson (Harrisburg, PA), who then scored a bucket of her own to make it 23-20 Falcons. South had seven in the quarter, and Lackawanna led 25-22 at the break.
 
The game see-sawed back and forth in the third, which ended at 37-37, but Lackawanna finally made its move in the final frame. South scored early in the quarter to give the Falcons the two-point lead. Aiken added a bucket to extend the lead to four, and a Falcon free throw made it 42-37 Falcons, the largest lead of the game for Lackawanna. Middlesex scored a pair of buckets to cut the Lackawanna lead to one, but Ania Crocker (Freeport, NY) hit a nifty one-handed jumper in the lane to extend the Lackawanna lead to 44-41. The big shot came with about 4:46 left in the contest, when Saraiah Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) buried a corner three-pointer, on the third triple of the day for Lackawanna, to make it 47-41, Falcons.
 
Later, South got a steal and made the lay-up to put Lackawanna up by eight at 51-43, but Middlesex answered with a three in transition to bring the deficit back to five with just over two minutes to play. From that point, neither team could score a bucket, whether from the field or on the line, as the Falcons did not extend their tenuous lead, and Middlesex went ice cold from the floor, despite numerous opportunities to try to close the gap.
 
South led the Falcons with 13 points, while Crocker scored nine points, all coming in the second half. Aiken added eight points, and Alaina Ortiz (Allentown, PA) added six points on a pair of three-pointers in the first half.
 
Lackawanna gets a much-needed victory in Region XIX play to move to 4-2 in the region and 7-4 overall. The Falcons will now turn their attention to the next contest, happening Tuesday, November 10^th on the road at Mercer County CC. Tip-off is set for 5:00pm ET in West Windsor Twp., NJ.