By: Melissa Solorio’s 32 points weren’t enough to make up for 35 turnovers in the contest by Illinois College, who lost its first Midwest Conference game of the season.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team was n
early able to overcome 21 turnovers in the first half and 35 in the game, but lost its first Midwest Conference game of the season and fell to 4-3 (2-1 MWC) after a 100-89 defeat to Knox on Tuesday night at the Prairie Fire's Memorial Gymnasium.
Melissa Solorio led all scorers with 32 points for the Lady Blues.
The game got off to a rocky start for Illinois College as Knox's fast-paced system and full-court press kept the Lady Blues from establishing any sort of rhythm on the offensive end. The Prairie Fire were hitting on enough of their three-point attempts early on to take a 32-24 lead 11 minutes into the game. Contributing to the Illinois College deficit were the troubles the team was having holding onto the ball. Knox's collapsing defensive pressure and rotating substitution patterns led to mounting turnover and foul problems. Five players ended the first half with two fouls for IC and
Hannah McGinnis had three.
Despite their issues, the Lady Blues used an 8-0 run to knot the score at 32-32 on an
Ashley Hoegger jumper with less than eight minutes to go until the break. Knox would again pull ahead by as many as seven, but Illinois College closed the gap to two, 48-46, by halftime.
Coming out to start the second half, a 9-2 run from Illinois College staked the Lady Blues to a 55-50 lead keyed by the play of Solorio and
Maddy Keith. The Prairie Fire responded to tie up the contest at 57-57, but a three-point play from Keith sparked a 9-0 burst from the Lady Blues to give them their largest lead of the game with 11:33 to play.
Somehow, Knox was able to answer. Connecting on four of their next five field goal attempts – two of which they converted for three-point plays – the Prairie Fire stormed back into the game with an 11-1 run to go on top, 68-67. Behind the play of Solorio, the Lady Blues would manage to reclaim the lead and still hold a three-point edge, 77-74, with less than seven minutes to play, but Knox had it rolling on the offensive end and seemed to hit every big shot it needed down the stretch. An Aly Eastman three-pointer with 5:29 remaining put Knox ahead, 82-79, and IC would trail the rest of the way.
After setting a career high with 19 points on Saturday against Lawrence, Solorio not only eclipsed that with her 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting, but she also recorded her first career double-double with 11 rebounds in the game. McGinnis added 22 points and 10 boards and Keith had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Lady Blues will try to put this game behind them when they go on the road to face Ripon on Dec. 13. The tip-off against the Redhawks is set for 1 p.m.
