Strait’s 27 Points Leads Lady Lakers to Third Straight MSAC Win
CANANDAIGUA – Lady Lakers guard Casi Strait punched in a season and game-high 27 points on Saturday in a Finger Lakes 81-64 conference home win over the visiting Jefferson CC Lady Cannoneers. The win equaled the third consecutive conference victory (and third overall) for the Lady Lakers. On the season, they are now 3-0 in the MSAC. Overall, their record stands at 6-9.
Finger Lakes earned its third consecutive victory behind not only the play of Strait, but behind the play of another pair of starters in Britany Monpere and Jordan Smith. Both Monpere and Smith finished the afternoon with double doubles.
Monpere, on 7-16 shooting, registered 15 points to go along with 14 rebounds (ties a season and career-high). Smith, who went 5-8 from the field, scored 12 points all while grabbing a career and game-high 18 rebounds (8 of which were offensive).
Monpere didn't just supply the Lady Lakers with a double double. She, along with teammate Julia Pagano, each passed out 7 assists apiece. Monpere and Pagano, in addition to their assist totals, each recorded 3 blocks apiece in the contest.
Guard Kelli McCauley led Finger Lakes reserves in scoring. The sophomore supplied the hosts with 9 points. Pagano, along with her assists and blocks, scored 8 points and tallied 7 rebounds.
12 of Strait's 27 points came via the three-pointer. On the day, she went 4-8 from three. Playing in 32 minutes, the sophomore also notched a team-high 3 steals.
Jefferson, despite the loss, kept the game within reaching distance, especially in the first half. At halftime, the scoreboard read in favor of Finger Lakes – 40-34. The Lady Lakers, in the final 20 minutes of the MSAC matchup, would outscore the Lady Cannoneers by a difference of 41-30.
Jefferson's Jasmine Canady came close to matching Strait in the scoring column. Playing in a total of 38 minutes, she delivered a team-high 24 points. Following Canady in the scoring column for the Lady Cannoneers was Morgan Kiernan. She finished the game with 14 points. Kiernan, just like Canady, was also on the court for 38 minutes on Saturday.
Canady, in addition to her 24 points, picked up a game-high 5 steals.
Finger Lakes did a superb job of crashing the boards at Putt Moore Court in the weekend meeting. Overall, they combined to pull down 59 rebounds individually. The Lady Lakers, on top of their scoring and rebounding, excelled well at moving the ball around the gym. Overall, they passed out 23 assists as a squad. Jefferson completed the game with 44 rebounds and 8 assists.
In terms of shooting percentages, Finger Lakes, as a team, shot 39% from the field while Jefferson, as a unit, shot 35% from the hardwood.
The Lady Lakers, in their next game, will take on Corning CC (conference member) on the road on Thursday (1/17). That game is slated to start at 5:00 p.m.