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DOWAGIAC — Despite shooting woes, the Dowagiac girls basketball team was able to hold off visiting Our Lady of the Lake 37-27 Monday night.

The Chieftains are now 7-6 heading into Tuesday night’s non-conference road game against Cassopolis.

“Tonight was a very up and down night, and we did not play the Dowagiac girls basketball that we know how to play,” said Dowagiac Coach Jason Turner. “A lot of the 50/50 balls did not go our way. At times, it was like there was a lid on the rim for a lot of our layups. It could be because we played on a Monday, but that is no excuse for the up and down play we had. We will need to play much better tomorrow when we play at Cassopolis.”

The Chieftains led just 9-7 after one quarter and 19-14 heading into the locker room at halftime.

Dowagiac shot the ball better in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 16-7, to open up a 35-21 lead heading into the final period.

Our Lady of the Lake (4-8) made a run at the Chieftains in the fourth quarter, but was unable to make up the ground it lost in the previous quarter.

Alanah Smith led Dowagiac with a game-high 16 points, while Maggie Weller added nine points. Josie Lock and Audrey Johnson both finished with six points.

Aribel Mills paced the Lakers with 11 points.

Turner was pleased that despite not playing its best, his team found a way to come away with a victory.

“I am glad we could pull out the win and give us a chance to go for two in a row tomorrow,” he said. “Alanah did have a great game for us offensively in the post and we did do a great job on the boards tonight.”