McHenry, MD – Garrett College's women's basketball team is headed to the regional playoffs with a whole lot of momentum.
The Lady Lakers obliterated the College of Southern Maryland, 90-50, Tuesday night to finish the regular season with an 11-game winning streak. GC (17-5 overall, 9-1 region) will be the second seed in the NJCAA Division II Region 20 tournament behind only defending national champion Community College of Baltimore County-Essex.
"We're ready," said Manuela Perez de Castro, who scored a team-high 20 points against CSM to lead five Lady Lakers into double figures. "We have good team chemistry, good connections, and we're having lots of fun."
The Lady Lakers haven't lost since an 87-33 defeat to CCBC-Essex that left Garrett 6-5 on the season. Perez de Castro, however, said this isn't the same GC team as the one that got blown out by Essex.
"We've been improving a lot since Essex," she said. "You can see it on the court."
The CSM game was over nearly before it started as GC blew out to a 14-0 lead. Aleeya Silver (17 points) and Gabriella Valentinetti (16 points) each had two baskets in that game-opening run, which Renee Timbers (11 points) capped with a three-point play.
CSM cut the deficit to single digits just once, when Angeleen Mulero (game-high 21 points) hit a second-quarter jumper to pull the Hawks within 24-15. Garrett responded by finishing the half on a 13-3 run, including eight points by Perez de Castro, as the Lady Lakers took a 37-18 lead into intermission.
GC kept it going in the second half, opening the third quarter with an 8-0 surge that began and ended with jumpers by Hasana Akinloye, who scored all 16 of her points after intermission. The Lady Lakers led by as many as 50 points before taking their collective foot off the gas.
Garrett scored 53 second-half points, but none were more celebrated than the two Johnna Collins scored late in the third quarter. Collins, who plays soccer for GC, was added to the squad when the team was hovering around five players.
"You could almost say Johnna saved our season," said GC head coach JT Lewis. "She's a great teammate, and she's ready to play all of the time. I try to get her minutes whenever I can."
Collins, meanwhile, is thrilled to be on the women's basketball team.
"I love it," said Collins, who hadn't played basketball since middle school. "It's been so good. I like having this team beside me."
Bayleigh Lamberson was nearly a sixth Lady Laker in double figures, finishing with eight points.
While GC has won 11 straight, Lewis noted the Lady Lakers will need to keep improving to potentially win a region that includes the reigning national champion.
"We could be a little more playoff-ready," he said. "The second-half schedule has been a little weaker than the first half, which plays into our record. We need to get ready to face more pressure and to face more size in the playoffs."
Lewis, however, wasn't disputing that the Lady Lakers are heading into the playoffs with momentum on their side.
"Today was a great day," he said after the CSM win. "We were sharing the ball, getting out on the break, and really supporting each other. It was good to see so many scorers in double figures, and to see our 1-3-1 defense look so good."
The Lady Lakers still don't know who they will host next Tuesday in the regional quarterfinals. Lewis said he's just pleased that "we're in the opposite half of the draw from Essex," setting up a potential region final against the Knights.
