Call it Thanksgiving break or a mini-vacation but the Lake Land women’s basketball team will finally get back to playing basketball. The Lakers haven’t played a game since Nov. 18. After the long layoff, the team will get back to action quickly with two games this weekend in the Morton College Classic. One of those games features a test between two NJCAA Division II top-10 teams.
Team Records:
Waubonsee Community College (4-3)
No. 2 Morton College (7-0)
Where: Cicero, Illinois (Morton College)
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at door.
Tip-Off:
Dec. 2: Waubonsee (5 p.m.)
Dec. 3: Morton College (2 p.m.)
Waubonsee’s Past Results: The team opened the season with three straight wins – 90-60 over Madison College, 75-72 (OT) over College of DuPage, and 101-66 over Illinois Valley Community College. However, the team has dropped three of its last four – 90-69 to Rock Valley, 75-69 to Blake Hawk College-Moline, and 74-65 to Milwaukee Area Technical College. The team recently picked up an 85-71 win over Joliet Junior College.
Waubonsee’s Top Players: 5-foot-9 sophomore Brooke Heiman appears to be as good as a scorer as Lake Land has seen this season. Heiman leads the team with 24.5 points per game while shooting 50.9% from the field, 34.8% from 3-point range and 93.5% from the free-throw line. Heiman also leads the team with an 8.7 rebound average. Emily Hurst contributes 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. It should be noted that Heiman missed her last game. As a team, Waubonsee averages 72.6 points.
“Brooke Heiman is an outstanding scorer,” said Lake Land coach Dave Johnson. “She scores in multiple ways. Very good off the dribble and finishing at the rim, at the same time she shoots the 3 well. She will have our attention and focus on defense. Waubonsee as a team will score well. Several really good outside shooters. They average about 81 points per game. Defensively, they have played a lot of 2-3 zone so ball movement and patience will be important for us on offense”
Waubonsee’s Potential Starting Lineup
Guard: Ma’Liyah Hodges, 5-foot-5 freshman: 7.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.0 BPG
Guard: Brooke Heiman: 5-foot-9 sophomore: 24.5 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.8 APG, 2.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Guard: Angelina Schlinger: 5-foot-7 freshman: 7.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG
Forward: Emily Hust, 5-foot-10 freshman: 14.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.7 BPG
Forward: Vivian Tapia: 5-foot-8 freshman: 11.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.7 BPG
Morton’s Past Results: Rising to the top of the NJCAA Division II polls as the No. 2 ranked team, Morton has blown past the competition to start the season. Morton opened with a 72-65 win over Black Hawk College-East. The team then defeated Wilbur State 110-21 and Central Arizona College 73-45. A 78-72 win over Mesa Community was followed by a 91-43 win over Olive Harvey. Recently, the team blew past Bryant & Stratton College 81-62 and Governor’s State University JV 108-21.
Morton’s Top Players: Claire Hyde, a 5-foot-6 freshman, leads the way with 21.2 points per game. Hyde is shooting 45.1% from the field, 39.7% from three-point range, and 78.3% from the free-throw line. Behind her is freshman Kaylen Evans with 16.7 points and sophomore Mia Simpson with 15.0 points per game. Simpson averaged 6.5 field goals out of 9.0 attempts to shoot 72.2% from the field while also adding a team-high 10.8 rebounds. As a team, Morton averages 84.2 points per game.
Morton’s Potential Starting Lineup
Guard: Mia Simpson, 5-foot-8 sophomore, 15.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 3.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Guard: Claire Hyde, 5-foot-6 freshman: 21.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.0 BPG
Guard: Kaylen Evans: 5-foot-6 freshman: 16.7 PPG, 1.5 RPG< 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG
Guard: Jaylyssa Carrasco, 5-foot-6 sophomore: 9.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Forward: Franchesca Metz, 6-foot-0 sophomore: 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Lake Land’s Past Results: No. 6 Lake Land has not played a game since Nov. 18 when the Lakers defeated Olney Central College 73-56. Katelyn Littleton scored 19 points off the bench to lead all scorers. Ali Watson added 13, while Olivia Niemerg added four points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Lake Land’s Potential Starting Lineup
G: Olivia Niemerg, 5-foot-7 sophomore: 9.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.6 APG, 2.4 SPG, 0.0 BPG
G: Chloe Custis, 5-foot-7 sophomore: 4.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.0 BPG
G: Lexie Niebrugge, 5-foot-8 sophomore: 13.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.0 BPG
F: Ali Watson, 6-foot-0 sophomore: 10.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.0 BPG
F: Marissa Russo, 5-foot-8 sophomore: 3.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG
What Lake Land Said: “Morton is a team loaded with great guards,” said Johnson. “Two of their players have shot the 3 extremely well. They are very much uptempo and apply a lot of pressure on the defensive end. We have used the layoff to work on fundamentals and a few new wrinkles on both offense and defense. We have scrimmaged a little in practice to keep the game-like feel. I would think they, the players, are very excited about playing after two weeks of practice.”
NJCAA D-II Rankings
| Rank | School | Record | Pts | Prev | |
| 1 | Kirkwood | 6-0 | 144 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Morton | 6-0 | 133 | 2 | |
| 3 | CCBC Essex | 7-0 | 126 | 3 | |
| 4 | Johnson County | 9-0 | 119 | 4 | |
| 5 | Iowa Western | 7-0 | 112 | 5 | |
| 6 | Lake Land | 5-0 | 105 | 6 | |
| 7 | Mesa | 4-1 | 98 | 7 | |
| 8 | Lincoln Land | 6-0 | 91 | 8 | |
| 9 | Schoolcraft | 4-0 | 84 | 10 | |
| 10 | Labette | 8-3 | 77 | 12 | |
| 11 | Union | 3-1 | 70 | 13 | |
| 12 | Parkland | 7-0 | 63 | 14 | |
| 13 | Bryant & Stratton (WI) | 5-2 | 56 | 9 | |
| 14 | Illinois Central | 4-2 | 49 | 15 | |
| 15 | North Central Missouri | 5-2 | 42 | 19 | |
| 16 | Kansas City Kansas | 7-2 | 35 | 11 | |
| 17 | Rock Valley | 8-2 | 28 | 16 | |
| 18 | Pima | 3-2 | 21 | 17 | |
| 19 | Oakland | 4-1 | 10 | 18 | |
| 20 | Lakeland | 6-0 | 3 | NR |
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