News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Oakland Community College defender Cheyenne Sterling attempts to steal a ball away from Alpena’s Kailey Hunt (15) during the second quarter of a women’s basketball game on Wednesday at Park Arena.

The low numbers on the Alpena Community College women’s basketball team’s roster continue to haunt them.

The Lumberjacks played good basketball throughout the first 15 minutes of the game and held a lead much of the first quarter, but the numbers game proved to be pivotal as Alpena looked worn out at times against an Oakland Community College team that ended the first half strong and was able to hang on for a 72-64 win on Wednesday at Park Arena.

Alpena came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and looked sharp in the first few minutes of the game as it built a 14-7 lead thanks to a pair of three pointers from Alexis Smith and two free throws from Kaalin Crawford as an 8-0 ACC run forced Oakland to call a timeout midway through the opening quarter.

The Raiders responded out of the timeout and scored 12 of the last 14 points of the quarter to grab a 19-16 lead at the end of one.

The solid play early in the quarter continued for the Lumberjacks, but it eventually caught up to them. With only six players on the roster, it looked as if Alpena was worn out at the end of each of the first two quarters and it proved to be costly.

Despite falling behind 25-18 two minutes into the second quarter, Alpena scored five unanswered on another three from Smith and a layup from Sam Szymanski to cut the lead to two.

The game remained close, but the Lumberjacks were unable to find enough energy to tie or take the the lead and the final minutes of the first half belonged to Oakland as it once again scored 12 of the final 14 points of the quarter and took a 41-28 lead at the break.

The Raiders were able to build on their lead throughout the third quarter as they got a spark from Iyana Tucker who scored seven of her game-high 18 points in the third.

Oakland took a comfortable 16 point lead into the fourth quarter and despite a late attempt to get back in the game for the Lumberjacks as they hit three consecutive shots from beyond the long line in the final minute, Alpena ran out of time, didn’t have enough in the tank and fell to 0-11 on the season.

Along with Tucker’s 18 points, Oakland got strong efforts from Alisha McCain who finished with 16 points, Cheyenne Sterling added 15 points and Milana Stomile chipped in with 13 points.

The Lumberjacks were led by Smith and Jasmyn Schultz who each score 14 points apiece. Szymanski and Crawford each added 11 points, Morgan Allen finished with nine points and Kailey Hunt chipped in with five points in the losing effort.

Alpena will have some time off to regroup and recover before returning to the court on Wednesday when it travels to Mott Community College.

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OAKLAND (72): M. Stomile 4 4-6 13; I. Tucker 7 3-4 18; A. McCain 6 2-4 16; C. Sterling 7 1-1 15; M. Wade 2 0-0 4; M. Hornick 2 2-2 6.

ALPENA (64): M. Allen 4 0-1 9; A. Smith 5 0-0 14; J. Schultz 6 2-3 14; S. Szymanski 3 5-11 11; K. Hunt 2 0-0 5; K. Crawford 4 2-2 11.