Women’s basketball continues stellar season

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

The women’s basketball team entered their conference play with 12 wins. Their only two losses came from schools ranked in the top ten in the country, Schoolcraft and Illinois Central.  In both lost games, the Stars waged a laudable battle, falling short by only a few points: 75-66 against Illinois Central and 65-61 against Schoolcraft.

The team ended 2025 by traveling to Florida to compete in the Palm Beach State Classic, bringing home three wins from the Sunshine State.

Conference play begin last week. In their opening conference game, the Stars scored 22 points to their opponent’s 15 in the first quarter, setting the pace for the rest of the game. The final score was 95-49 over the Vikings from Glen Oaks Community College.

A new player has emerged as a formidable competitor:  Aubreona Smith. The freshman, hailing from Berrien Springs, has a total of 114 rebounds and has started for the team eight separate times. Smith was also the top scorer for several games and frequently pulls double digits in total points. Due to her incredible performance this season, Smith was named the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Player of the Week two times in December alone and was also named National Junior Community College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Player of the Week on Dec. 10.

Other Stars also continue to shine on the court. Armonie Smith was another player named MCCAA Player of the Week from Nov. 2 to Nov. 9. Multiple players also hit their personal record high in rebounds this season, including Ashlynn Putman, who leads the team with 127 rebounds.

Even the coach has reached new heights. Head Coach Megan Hudson was named the 2025 Junior College Women’s Coach of the Year by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. Since taking the helm of the faltering program in 2023, the Stars alum has led the team to over 50 total wins in just her first two seasons.

The women’s basketball team is currently ranked #7 nationally in Division II for the NJCAA. Hudson is extremely proud of her athletes, both on and off the court. “We’re very proud of our fall semester GPA of 3.3.” Hudson said.

Hudson also wants to share her pride in the team with the greater LCC community. “We have six home games left this season, and would love to pack the Gannon Gymnasium.” LCC students can do just that by taking advantage of free admission to home games, the next of which is versus Marian University Ancilla on Jan. 17.