By Spencer Spilman
The Lehman Lady Lobos hosted the Akins Lady Eagles Friday night in the Lobo Den in a high firing shootout.
While the Lady Lobos hung tough for the most of the game, Akins’ sharp shooters were too much to handle as the Lady Eagles ran away with a 70-52 win.
The first quarter was more or less dominated by Lehman. The Lady Lobos scored with ease and kept the Akins’ offense to a minimum.
Lehman freshman Makayla Coy and senior Natalia Barajas led the scoring and gave the Lady Lobos a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams started catching fire in the second quarter, especially from long-range.
Akins sophomores Denae Lofton and Gina Sweeney couldn’t miss from the three-point line. The Lady Lobos struggled to keep up despite continuing to score points.
Lofton led all scorers with 23 points as she scored almost whenever she wanted to against the Lehman defense. She helped lead the Lady Eagles to a 38-29 halftime lead after a high scoring second quarter.
Coy tried to keep up and finished with a team high 16 points and added 14 rebounds.
Akins answered with four players in double figures. No matter what Lehman did on defense, Akins continued to knock down shots.
Struggles with turnovers surfaced for Lehman as Akins started to pressure the ball as soon as the Lady Lobos grabbed a defensive rebound.
Lehman head coach Jamie Coy said the turnovers really hurt the team’s efforts.
“They started doubling our rebounds so we couldn’t transition, and we made hasty decisions which led to a bunch of turnovers,” Coy said.
The Lady Lobos were forced to look to their offense as their best defense.
Along with Coy, Barajas added 12 points and senior Crystal Montoya finished with nine in the game. Senior Ashlynne Hardaway also earned minutes off the bench, scoring eight points, but Lehman still trailed 57-40 going into the final quarter.
Lehman tried to battle back in the fourth quarter but Akins answered with a three-pointer or an easy layup.
Coy talked after the game about what she told her team when their opponent shoots like Akins did.
“It seems like we can never catch a break,” said Coy. “Every time we play really good, the team we are playing seems to be on fire, so we just need to up our defense and hope our shots fall.”
Lehman hosts Lake Travis Friday at the Lobo Den at 7:30 p.m.
