Lane took to home court on Jan. 18, giving the home fans something to cheer about in a 50-44 win against the Jones College Prep Eagles, improving to 7-10 on the season.

Feelings of frustration resounded through the team after a brief suspension of the season due to the CPS-CTU reopening conflict.. But despite the disappointment the girls team felt, Head Coach Megan Molloy said she believes the week off worked in their favor.

“You know, we were able to practice, which I think helped,” Molloy said postgame about the short break. “And we had a conference game that was coming up that we were excited to play. [Practice] helped keep our energy.”

Lane came into the matchup with that energy, as they looked to break a two-game losing streak, after being defeated by Lincoln Park and Trinity.

Gallery • 11 Photos

Ruby Thompson

Anastasia Lamperis high fives her teammates during player introductions.

The team, according to Molloy, was very self-motivated heading into the conference game.

“Senior Hope Johnson reminded me of last year,” Molloy recalled. “We had a really bad loss against Jones and she said to the juniors, you need to let this hurt and remember this next year, and she said that that’s what their motivation was. They really showed that they had a lot of energy in that game and really played hard. I think it was one of their best games.”

Lane and Jones maintained a steady exchange of points throughout the game, with Lane sticking in the game with tough defense as well as having more consistent shooting than Jones. 

While Lauren Collins, Anastasia Lamperis and Marissa Ulie all put up 10 points Tuesday night, Senior Captain Bailey Zalewski from Jones presented a challenge for Lane, racking up 24 points – a game-high for either team. 

With the tough matchup against Zalewski, it was all about the hustle for Lane.

“We had to work on getting to her [Zalewski],” said junior forward Marissa Ulie. “Like making sure someone was getting there before she got the ball and was able to shoot and hit a ton of shots.”

The game started off strong for both teams. With the first quarter ending in an 11-11 tie, the second quarter saw more aggression from both teams. With solid Lane defense maintaining a secure interior defense, the sight of a three-pointer was common throughout the game, especially from Jones.

Lane answered back accordingly with three-pointers from Logan Kane and Ulie. It would continue to be a close matchup as the Eagles headed to the locker room with a narrow 21-17 lead. 

Lane took the opportunity to retake the lead in the second half. Despite a steady flow of three-pointers from Jones, Lane held up with steals from Collins and Kayla Jones, as well as strong rebounding from Anastasia Lamperis.

Lamperis, who came into the season a little later compared to her teammates due to a knee injury, was key for Lane with defense under the hoop.

“The other team had really tall girls but we just made sure to box out every single play and they had a lot of long shots,” Lamperis said. “So we were ready for the long rebounds and as much as we pushed them back, we were able to get open for the rebound.”

Lane went on to win 50-44.

To add to what was a big conference win for Lane, Tuesday night was also a homage to National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a day of observance to acknowledge the success of female athletes. 

“It’s amazing because we’re able to compete against each other,” Lamperis said. “Only a few years ago, women’s sports were either not allowed to be played or people didn’t care as much about it. So it’s a really big deal.”

And according to Ulie, the team is a huge advocate of women in sports.

“We want people to come and we want to play hard, because people before us have worked hard to let girls play or get girls more support for sports,” she said.

Lane plays their final regular season home game of the season on Jan. 20 against Northside, which will also be their senior night.