Basketball Recap: Land O' Lakes Falls Despite Big Games from Alex Nichols and Jessi Saffold

Gators

Previous 5 Games

12/27/24 vs Berkeley Prep	41-52
12/20/24 vs Sports Leadership & Management	46-40
12/18/24 @ Sports Leadership & Management	55-44
12/16/24 @ Palmetto	45-40
12/10/24 @ Zephyrhills	46-52

Land O' Lakes was the 58-36 winner over Berkeley Prep when they last played one another back in December of 2022, but their luck changed this time around. The Land O' Lakes Gators fell 52-41 to the Berkeley Prep Buccaneers on Friday. The Gators' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

Jessi Saffold and Alex Nichols certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Saffold dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 steals, while Nichols went 5 of 12 on her way to 18 points and five boards. That was a full 39% of Land O' Lakes' points, marking the fourth time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points.

Berkeley Prep was led to victory by Madeline Dean and Molly Taylor. Dean dropped a double-double on 14 points and 21 boards, while Taylor went 7 of 14 on her way to 17 points and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Lila Grace Strain, who had 13 points.

Land O' Lakes' defeat dropped their record down to 6-4. As for Berkeley Prep, with the win, they broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 2-4.

Land O' Lakes wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 42-37 loss against Parrish Community on the 28th. As for Berkeley Prep, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 45-31 defeat against Countryside on the 28th.