By TOM O’NEILL

Special to Daily News

 

Lake Michigan College lived a nightmare for nine minutes in its opening round game of the NJCAA National Tournament.

The Lady Red Hawks spotted Parkland College of Champaign, Ill. a 25-2 lead and never recovered, falling 94-69, Tuesday afternoon.

When sophomore guard Deyhanna Styles scored Lake Michigan’s first bucket with 4:01 gone in the first half, Parkland had already built up 13-2 lead. When she got her second bucket, team’s second, it was 25-4. Styles went on to score 17 of the team’s 29 first half points.

“I’m really proud of her,” Red Hawk coach Jason Cooper said. “She grew a lot tonight and gave it everything she had.”The first half finished with the Cobras holding a 52-29 lead.

Cooper thinks nerves got the best of his freshmen-laden team.

“In the couple of losses we had, it was usually the first 10 minutes that crippled us. Right now we’re pretty bummed. Hopefully we’ll bounce back on Thursday,” he said.

Lake Michigan, plagued with turnovers and poor shooting in the first half, jumped out to a 6-2 lead to begin the second half. This time it was sophomore Locorsica Metts trying to rescue the team scoring 12 points. It wasn’t enough as the Cobras outscored Lake Michigan 42-40 to secure the victory.

Styles finished with 25 points, Nicole Decker 13 and Metts 12 for a team that averaged 72 points a game while holding opponents to 49. The Red Hawks (26-6) shot 32 percent from the field during the first half nightmare. Parkland hit 66 percent.

Lake Michigan enters the loser bracket today, hoping to run the table for a seventh place finish. All games can be seen by going to the NJCAA website, clicking Division II National Championship, then Watch Live on NJCAA TV.