By: Outscoring Lawrence, 41-20, after halftime, Illinois College improved to 2-0 in Midwest Conference play.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – With returning Midwest Conference Player of the Year
Hannah McGinnis back in the fold, much of the Illinois College women's basketball team's offense this season will be generated thanks to the talented senior forward. On Saturday afternoon however, the offense came from some unexpected sources. Freshman
Melissa Solorio set a new career high with 19 points and sophomore
Ashley Hoegger matched her season high with 11 points to help the Lady Blues improve to 4-2 (2-0 MWC) with a 70-41 win over Lawrence University inside Sherman Gymnasium.
Though Lawrence has struggled to score so far this season, the Vikings were surprisingly feisty in the first half. Tough defense from Lawrence allowed it to stay within three points of Illinois College, 14-11, after a three-point play from Fanita Robins with 11:42 left in the opening half. That seemed to be the wake-up call that IC needed though. Hoegger started to help IC pull away by connecting on back-to-back three-pointers to open up a 20-13 lead. A jumper from inside the paint would bring the Vikings within five on the next trip down the court, but that was answered by a three-pointer from
Jill Friedrich and a jumper from McGinnis to open up a 25-15 lead with 6:44 remaining.
Though Illinois College had some opportunities to expand on its advantage, it would go into the break ahead by only eight, 29-21. The Lady Blues were comfortably ahead, but not playing at their best. That changed in the second half. Hoegger opened the second 20 minutes with a triple to push IC out to a 32-21 lead. They wouldn't lead by less than 10 the rest of the way. Up by a score of 35-25,
Maddy Keith started an 11-2 run from the Lady Blues with an open three-pointer set up by a
Kate Russow assist. Solorio then took over with a steal that led to two made free throws and a three-pointer of her own.
Alyssa Garde capped the run with her first bucket of the day to make it 46-27.
Facing a mounting deficit, Lawrence began to miss shots and make offensive errors. Illinois College was happy to capitalize off of almost all of them, opening up as much as a 31-point lead in the waning minutes. The Vikings ended the game with 22 turnovers leading to 17 IC points. Sixteen offensive rebounds also led to 17 second-chance points for the Lady Blues.
Tying Solorio for game high scoring honors was McGinnis, who had yet another dominating performance in the paint with 19 points and 15 rebounds. She added four assists, matching
Mickalah York for the most in the contest. Solorio grabbed five rebounds and had a game-high four steals in addition to her career high in scoring.
Off the bench, Friedrich had eight points, making 3-of-4 from the field. Garde, York,
Amy Bergstrom and
Hanna Bergkoetter also made baskets in reserve roles.
Illinois College will look to keep its perfect start to the MWC season going on Tuesday night when it makes a trip to face Knox at 5:30 p.m. in Galesburg, Ill.
