By: A 14-0 Cornell run over six minutes of the first half were the big difference on Saturday afternoon in the 64-49 Rams victory.
Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Playing short-handed on the road against a good Cornell team, a lot of things would have had to go right for the Illinois College women's basketball team on Saturday. The Lady Blues received some solid performances from unexpected sources, but it wasn't enough to lift the team to the win. A scoreless streak of more than six minutes from IC in the first half allowed Cornell to open up a big lead and the Rams held it the rest of the way, claiming a 64-49 victory. The Lady Blues fall to 11-7 (8-5 MWC), while Cornell improves to 10-8 (8-5 MWC).
In the early going, it was Cornell who was having the issues on the offensive end. The Rams went nearly four minutes before scoring their first points, but in that time, Illinois College was only able to take a 4-0 lead.
Hannah McGinnis had the opening bucket of the game, but she then didn't score the rest of the first half as she was effectively neutralized by the interior size of Cornell.
Without McGinnis owning the paint like she does most games, offense came from unexpected sources in the early minutes of the contest for the Lady Blues.
Kate Russow had a pair of layups and
Amy Bergstrom banked in a long two that made it an 11-10 lead for Cornell after nine minutes.
Maddy Keith then supplied IC with consecutive corner jumpers that kept the team within three points of the Rams at 17-14 with 8:30 remaining in the half.
At that point, the Illinois College offense went ice cold and Cornell was able to take advantage. The Rams scored 14 unanswered points over a span of more than six minutes before Russow ended it with a layup late in the shot clock. Cornell's Rikki Mulloy nailed a jumper from the wing just before the buzzer and the Rams took a 35-19 lead into halftime.
A brief window of opportunity presented itself in the second half for Illinois College by way of Cornell's foul trouble. The Rams were whistled for six fouls in the first four minutes after the break, by which time the Lady Blues had the deficit trimmed to 12. A technical on the Cornell bench allowed Keith to go back to the line again and pull the Lady Blues within nine, 42-33, with 11:49 to play.
If the point of the technical from the Cornell coach was to wake his team up, then his mission was accomplished. The Rams immediately appeared to pick up their energy and soon had restored their lead to a comfortable 53-35 margin. The closest that Illinois College would get the rest of the way was 11 despite numerous trips to the foul line.
Keith led IC with 16 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double in the past seven games. Russow set a new career high with 10 points. McGinnis nabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, but was held to nine points.
Alyssa Garde came off the bench to score six points for the Lady Blues.
Illinois College will be back at home on Feb. 4 to face Beloit College. Tip-off of the women's contest from Sherman Gymnasium is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
