By: The Pioneers shot 57 percent from the field in the second half, turning a two-point halftime lead into a 13-point win.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – In a game between two teams that entered the day in line to face each yet again in the Midwest Conference Tournament, the Carroll Pioneers were able to get the better of the Illinois College women's basketball team, 81-68. A back-and-forth first half saw nine ties and 12 lead changes, but Carroll took control in the second half, shooting 57 percent as a team while IC managed to shoot only 29 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Lady Blues saw their four-game winning streak snapped, falling to 10-6 (7-4 MWC), while Carroll solidified its second-place position at 12-4 (9-2 MWC).
If you had known going in that Carroll's leading scorer, Breann Maryanski, would score zero points in 21 minutes of action before fouling out, odds are you would have liked Illinois College's chances in this game. Unfortunately, the foul difficulties ran both ways as the teams were whistled for a combined 49 infractions. Three Carroll starters would eventually foul out of the game, as did IC's
Jill Friedrich.
Maddy Keith – who had a string of four straight double-doubles coming in – would play only 14 minutes due to her foul trouble.
Despite the stop-and-go nature of the contest, the teams put on an entertaining show for the first 20 minutes of action. The biggest lead of the half was five by each team as they traded bursts of offensive effectiveness. For Illinois College, that five-point lead came from a three-point play from
Melissa Solorio and a jumper from Friedrich after the game had been tied at 9-9. The edge evaporated in less than 30 seconds as Malory Christenson and Brianna Johnson each converted three-point plays to sandwich an IC turnover.
Carroll then took a five-point lead of its own, 28-23, with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, only to see the Lady Blues rally behind Solorio and
Hannah McGinnis. McGinnis had 17 of her game-high 26 points in the first half and her post position earned her trip after trip to the line. When she nailed a pair with 3:37 to go, the game was back level again at 30-30.
A Friedrich three-ball and Solorio jumper would put IC back up, 37-34, with 1:27 remaining in the first half, but Carroll took momentum into the locker room on a Sammy Yolitz three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining, followed by a Johnson elbow jumper at the horn that touched every part of the rim before falling in.
With the way the first half played out, a two-point deficit didn't seem to be a huge deal, but Illinois College would not pull even again. After Carroll started the second half with a layup,
Ashley Hoegger drilled a three-pointer to make it a 41-40 game. That would be the closest the Lady Blues would be the rest of the way. Over the next three minutes, the Pioneers would go on a 12-0 run to take a commanding 53-40 lead. IC would pull back within eight, but a 10-0 Carroll run upped its advantage to 18, 65-47.
As the fouls mounted and Carroll saw some of its key contributors retire to the bench, there seemed to be a momentary opening for Illinois College. Friedrich scored a layup to cut the deficit back to 12 at 75-63 with 2:51 remaining, but she was then called for her fifth foul with 2:22 left. Due to confusion on the substitution after Friedrich's fifth foul, a technical foul ended up being assessed to the IC bench. The Pioneers were able to cash in three out of their four free throw attempts and their lead would turn out to be safe the rest of the way.
It was another historic day for McGinnis, as the senior leaped over both Val Leitschuh (1,223 points, 1986-89) and Adrienne Dickerson (1,227 points, 1999-2003) to reach third place all-time on the IC scoring list. McGinnis now has 1,232 points in her career and needs 16 more to pass Rachel Macon (1,247 points, 2007-11) for second place. Already the all-time leader in free throws attempted at IC, McGinnis also became the all-time leader in free throws made on Saturday, knocking in 10-of-15 to up her total to 364 made free throws in her career, ahead of Courtney Allen (358, 2002-06). She would end her day with her third straight double-double, notching 16 rebounds to go with her 26 points.
Solorio also had a big offensive day for the Lady Blues. The freshman totaled 21 points and nine rebounds, tying with Friedrich for team-high honors in assists with three.
Despite the loss, Illinois College remains in third place in the MWC, a half-game ahead of both Cornell and Lake Forest, who are currently tied for the fourth and final spot into the MWC Tournament. IC will try to get back on the winning track with a road game at Grinnell on Jan. 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
