WAUWATOSA, WI (January 17, 2019) - The Bryant & Stratton College women's basketball team overcame a 14-point first quarter deficit on Thursday night with a dominant 30 minutes of play giving them a 70-63 win over the Lakeland College Muskies.

The win improved the Bobcats to 14-8 overall including 7-5 in region play.

Bryant & Stratton College, who has won four in-a-row including two Region IV victories, fell behind early trailing 24-10 at the end of the first quarter.

"The effort and energy was not there," Bobcats head coach, Jeff Lorenz, said. "We came out sluggish and our minds were not in the game."

After a much needed timeout, the Bobcats surged out on an 18-12 run to close the gap to 36-28 at the break.

"The solution was simple; we needed to play with energy and agression," Lorenz said. "It is nearly impossible to win a basketball game without those two things."

At the midway point of the third quarter, Bryant & Stratton cut the deficit to just one point (42-41) after sophomore forward, Maddy McCoy, rattled in a tough layup in the lane.

The Bobcats captured their first lead of the game since 7:13 mark of the first quarter after freshman guard, Taynique Hawthorne, connected on a tough reverse layup to gain a 43-32 advantage with under three minutes remaining before the final period.

"Coming back from double figures against a talented team like Lakeland is not an easy thing to do," Lorenz said.

Over the final minutes of the third quarter, Bryant & Stratton remained ahead by one point before first year guard, Kiara Hortman, drilled one from long distance providing a 52-48 edge to start the fourth.

With just under five minutes remaining in the contest, the Muskies fought their way back and gained a 59-58 lead.

Staying composed, the Bobcats slammed the door on the Muskies over the final minutes of the game after breaking out on a 12-5 run to seal the deal.

"From the second quarter through the end of the game we played great," Lorenz said. "We need to clean up our poor play in the first quarter though."

The Bobcats controlled the boards as they outrebounded the Muskies 56-42 which included 25 offensive rebounds.

Bryant & Stratton shot 35.2% (25-71) from the field and their lowest shooting percentage of the season from beyond the arc at 11.1% (2-18).

Three players scored in double figures for the Bobcats as sophomore forward, Brandilyn Robertson, coming off a Region IV Division II-District L Player of the Week award, led the way with a team-high 16 points and 14 boards off the bench. 

McCoy followed with a double-double of her own dropping 15 points and 13 boards while Hawthorne added 12 points and three assists.

UP NEXT:

Bryant & Stratton (14-8) will have over a week off of competition as they travel to Galesburg, IL next Saturday to take on the Carl Sandburg College Chargers.

The Bobcats suffered a heart-breaking 105-100 triple overtime loss to the Chargers earlier this season at the Illinois Central Holiday tournament in late December and will be looking for revenge this time around.

Tip-off to take place at 1:00pm.

Spectators can view the game live on the OFFICIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

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