Led by junior Jordynn Martin's 25 points, the hosting Lafayette Lancers looked sharp against Oakville on Tuesday night. Lafayette had a 10-1 run to begin the game and hung on to beat the Tigers, 58-52, in a Suburban West Conference matchup. The Lancers are now 9-6, and 3-1 in league play.

Oakville (5-12, 0-3) suffered many unforced turnovers as team members attempted to end the losing streak, and, as a result, lost their fifth straight game.

The Tigers have been letting teams get early leads all season, and Lafayette (9-6, 3-1) was no exception. Oakville coach Aaron Bosch was quick to admit that after the game. “With the Kirkwood game, we dug ourselves a hole early. They took a 23-8 lead, and Ursuline did the same thing. Tonight was no different. We turned the ball over a lot early, and let it get away.”

After calling a first-quarter timeout, the Tigers turned it around a little, with seniors Julianne Kernen and Leslie DeGonia each making jump shots. But Lafayette answered. Martin made a 3, junior Claire Norfleet made a layup off of a steal, and sophomore Hannah Schneider made a 3 from the corner. That early nine-point deficit remained hard to erase as Oakville had trouble taking care of the ball.

Oakville ended the first quarter with a three-point play from senior Chloe Wolf, who scored seven points in the first quarter and cut Lafayette’s lead to 24-14 after one quarter.

The Tigers started the second period with a jump shot from DeGonia, followed closely by layups from Kernon and senior Jordin Mitchell. Oakville’s tight zone defense held the Lancers to long passes, which slowed them. Oakville’s Wolf contributed six more points to close Lafayette’s lead to 32-28 in the middle of the second quarter.

DeGonia was fouled late in the second period while sinking a 3-pointer, and after that four-point play the Lancers slowed the game’s flow. Martin made a jump shot at the halftime buzzer and Lafayette led, 36-33.

After Martin forced a turnover in the first three seconds of third-quarter play, Kernon kicked off the second half with two consecutive layups. Norfleet answered the second with a basket, but then Oakville junior Lauren Fussell pulled in an offensive rebound and put it back up for a 39-38 Tigers lead. This would be the first and only time Oakville was ahead all game.

A 3-pointer from Lafayette junior Anne Perry was followed immediately by a 3-pointer from junior Kayla Hall, and another 3-pointer from sophomore Hannah Schneider. Martin later added another 3 as the Lancers led 51-45 after three quarters.

Martin averages a team-high 18.5 points per game this season.

The Tigers weren’t ready to quit, and Oakville came out gunning at the start of the fourth period. Audra Plassmeyer anticipated a high Lancers pass and made her fourth steal of the game. She then dished off to DeGonia, who would make her second consecutive layup to tie the game at 51.

DeGonia had 18 points and averages a team-best 10.3 per game this season.

With 1:30 left to play, Lafayette concentrated on slowing the ball down. Eventually, Martin was fouled and she made both free throws. Oakville got the ball back with 11 seconds to play, but turned the ball over on a moving screen violation. Martin went back to the line to ice the game.

As for kicking the Tigers’ five-game losing streak, Bosch is going to focus on defense. “We’ve got to shore up our defense and challenge the shooters.”

In this case, challenging the 3-point shooters in the third quarter would have really made a difference.