Team Effort Propels Lakers To Comfortable Win

CHICAGO – Roosevelt put together a complete team effort in its non-conference finale, easily routing Grace Christian 88-66 on Wednesday night at the Goodman Center.

Seven different Lakers finished with at least eight points and eight players finished with at least two assists in the victory. The Lakers (10-13) shot 52 percent from the field and drained 12 of 28 attempts from behind the arc while holding the Tigers to less than 35 shooting in the game and just 4 of 28 from 3-point range. Roosevelt also won the rebounding battle 45-37 with six players grabbing at least four boards in the victory.

The Lakers got off to a slower start than they would have preferred, but began to pull away from the Tigers as Meghan Urbanski heated up. The graduate student made 3 of 5 from behind the arc in the first quarter as she contributed 11 of her 15 points during the opening 10 minutes. Her 3-pointers came at critical moments of the first quarter that helped extend the Roosevelt lead then hit a layup that pushed the Lakers advantage into double figures for the first time.

It was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Beatrice Bruno, though, that firmly swung the momentum in Roosevelt's favor. The junior heaved a long shot with about two seconds left in the first quarter and received the homecourt bank off the backboard to give the Lakers a 12-point lead after 10 minutes. Roosevelt proceeded to hold Grace Christian without a point for the first 6:50 of the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 21 points.

The final nail for the Tigers came in the third quarter as both the Lakers starters and reserves wreaked havoc on Grace Christian. The Tigers shot just 21.7 percent from the floor in the third quarter, including missing all 11 3-pointers, while the Lakers shot 55 percent from the field and ran the lead to 33 points by the end of the period.

Lauren Gillion and Taylor Treat helped Roosevelt extend the lead to as many as 37 in the fourth quarter before the Tigers pulled back with some sloppy play from the Lakers. Still, Treat scored five of her eight points in the fourth and Gillion added all 10 of her points in the second half. Jayla Turchin led the Lakers with 16 points in 17 minutes and Gabby Beggs added 11 in just 19 as none of the Roosevelt starters played more than 24 minutes in the victory.

Chyna Scott led the Lakers with eight rebounds to go along with nine points while Amelia McNutt's streak of double-figures performances was snapped after scoring nine points and adding six rebounds. Beggs and Treat led the lead with five assists each while Treat ended with four helpers as the Lakers assisted on 28 of their 35 made shots.

Roosevelt returns to conference play Saturday when it hosts Cardinal Stritch at 1 p.m. at the Goodman Center.