MILWAUKEE, WIs. — The Milwaukee Area Technical College women's basketball team never trailed in regulation before falling 88-83 in double overtime at home to College of Lake County on Wednesday night, slipping to 2-4 on the season.

"We just took the reigning Region 4 champions to two overtimes after leading the majority of the game," MATC head coach Arom Murrell said. "This is indicative of the type of team that we can actually be. It's still early in the year and this is only game number six. So, I'm more encouraged than not."

Expected to face an uphill battle entering at 2-3 against a 6-1 Lake County squad, the Stormers put the pedal down early to disrupt the Lancers throughout the opening quarter. MATC raced out to a 13-4 lead behind a 9-0 run that saw four different Stormers — Laila Hamiel, Emani Summers, Rachel Schlies and Sa'Nyai Mitchell — score. By the end of the quarter, MATC held a 19-11 advantage after shooting 56.3 percent (9 of 16) from the field while limiting CLC to 36.4 percent (4 of 11) and forcing eight turnovers. Hamiel led the way with seven first-quarter points on 3-of-5 shooting, including one make from deep.

MATC then carried a 32-27 lead into halftime and stretched its advantage to 53-46 after three quarters before things started to tighten up late. Lake County clawed back in the fourth, eventually tying the game at 68-68 to force overtime. The Lancers grabbed their first lead with 4:05 left in the extra period and appeared to have control up 80-77 with 25 seconds remaining. But Schlies buried a 3-pointer with seven seconds left, and Sellers blocked Lake County's final shot to send the game into double overtime.

Schlies, who missed all of last season with a lower extremity injury, delivered one of the game's biggest moments.

"Schlies' 3-pointer was huge because you know we've been waiting for her to get healthy enough to get on the floor contributing," Murrell said. "That was one of her biggest shots here, potentially the biggest of her career."

In the second overtime, the Stormers appeared to be out of gas. MATC shot just 1-for-7, with Mitchell hitting a 3-pointer to pull the Stormers within 84-83 with just over three and a half minutes left, but the offense stalled from there. In the final minute, MATC went 0-for-2 from the field with a turnover, which proved to be the difference.

"We just ran out of gas…," Murrell said. "It was a good game nonetheless, and Lake County gave us everything that they had. Our girls just ran out of gas at the end."

Despite the heartbreaking defeat, MATC played well above its season averages of 29.3 percent from the field and 18.8 percent from 3-point range. Against Lake County, the Stormers collectively shot 40.5 percent (34 of 84) and hit 9 of 23 from deep (39.1 percent) in the five-point loss. MATC also held the edge in second-chance points (23-18), bench points (21-16) and points in the paint (48-38), while committing fewer turnovers (20) than CLC (22).

STATBOOK
Summers paced the Stormers with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. She also added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Hamiel nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks. Schlies contributed 13 points, highlighted by the game-tying 3-pointer that forced a second overtime, along with two rebounds and four steals. Mitchell added 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and one steal. Sophomore Moriah Landry and Sellers each chipped in eight points, with Landry pulling down 11 rebounds and Sellers grabbing 10.

UP NEXT MATC (2-4) will travel to Morton College for a 1 p.m. matchup Saturday against the Panthers.