By: In their final non-conference game of the season, the Lady Blues took control midway through the first half and rolled to a 67-43 win over visiting Blackburn.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team was slow out of the gate, but took command of the game against Blackburn College midway through the first half and notched a 67-43 win over the Beavers in the final non-conference game of the season for the Lady Blues. IC now stands at 6-4 on the year.
In the opening moments it looked like the pressure defense of Illinois College would overwhelm Blackburn. The Beavers won the opening tap, but
Sydney Lett immediately picked the pocket of her defensive assignment on two straight possessions, leading to consecutive fast break layups from
Brielle Greenleaf for a 4-0 lead. Blackburn would hang in the contest however, cutting the IC lead to 9-7 after a free throw from Gariel Pierce with less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
From that point on, Illinois College began to assert its dominance. A 7-0 run pushed the advantage to 16-7 and the Lady Blues ended the first quarter with a 19-11 lead after
Alyssa Garde scored the final five points of the quarter for IC. The lead reached double-digits on a three-point play from Lett to open the second quarter and she scored again the next time down to make it 24-11. Pierce tried to keep the Beavers close and she hit a jumper with six minutes remaining in the half that made it 26-18, but the Lady Blues had the final nine points of the quarter, including a three-pointer from Lett right as the halftime buzzer sounded.
The 9-0 run to end the first half reached 17-0 as Illinois College cashed in the first eight points of the third quarter as well. The lead for the Lady Blues would never dip below 20 points for the remainder of the game as 13 players saw action and all 11 who attempted at least one field goal scored in the contest.
Lett ended as the leading scorer in the game with 15 points, adding in four rebounds and four steals as well. Greenleaf was the other player in double-figures for Illinois College, totaling 12 points along with six steals and five rebounds.
Jill Friedrich and Garde each had seven points and
Mallory Battefeld and
Shannen Quehl had six points each.
Illinois College stays at home as it jumps back into Midwest Conference action this weekend. The Lady Blues will host Carroll University on Jan. 2 at 3 p.m., following the conclusion of the men's contest with the Pioneers at 1 p.m.
