Box Score BOXSCORE
PAINESVILLE, OHIO - Sophomore Jen Caiola (Chagrin Falls,
Ohio/Chagrin Falls) scored a career-high 23 points and junior
Alyssa Wagers (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) recorded her second
straight double-double to lead the Lake Erie College women's
basketball team to its first victory of the season, a 75-64 win
over Slippery Rock University Saturday (Nov. 21) in the opening
game of the Lady Cat Classic in Johnstown, Pa.
The Storm (1-2) never trailed in the game, opening the contest
with a 25-4 run. Lake Erie hit five three-pointers during the
opening spurt. Caiola connected on six-of-10 threes in the game,
including a perfect four-of-four in the first half as Lake Erie
built a 44-25 lead at the break.
"We shot the ball really well in that first half," said head
coach Bob Booher. "We had not been shooting well from outside
the first two games and I think defensively they were going to pack
it in and make us prove we could make the outside
shots. Today, we were able to do that."
Slippery Rock (0-3) slowly chipped away at the lead in the
second half, closing within nine points with 2:30 to go, but senior
Renese Ames (Bedford, Ohio/Bedford) made a pair of steals on
defense, Wagers nailed three-of-four from the foul line and junior
guard Brittany Zele (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) made a couple key plays
down the stretch to close it out.
"I thought we did a nice job from the line and Brittany made a
few big plays for us to hold on," Booher said. "We did well
enough to maintain that lead we had built. Our youth showed and we
paniced a little bit at times, but coming through it will be big
for us later in the season."
Wagers finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her
15th career double-double. Ames scored 11 points,
hitting two-of-three three-pointers.
Overall, Lake Erie shot a season-high 42.9 percent from the
floor (24-of-56), going nine-of-18 (50%) from deep. The win
was the Storm's first since Jan. 21 of last season, a stretch of
nine games.
Nikki Presto had a double-double to lead The Rock. She finished
with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Julie Molloy was the only
other player in double figures with 11 points. As a team,
Slippery Rock shot just 24-of-67 (35.8%), including just 11of-38
(28.9%) in the first half.
The Storm will play the event's host, the University of
Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Sunday (Nov. 22) at 3 p.m. at the Sports
Center in Johnstown, Pa.
