By: Hannah McGinnis had 25 points and 24 rebounds, while Maddy Keith added 19 and nine as the Lady Blues held off the Red Hawks for a 72-65 overtime win.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – From the fight displayed all afternoon from Ripon College, it was hard to believe that the Red Hawks have won only twice all season. Ripon never led in the game, yet seemed to have an answer every time that the Illinois College women's basketball team tried to pull away. In the end though, the Lady Blues were too much for the Red Hawks, earning a difficult 72-65 win in overtime. IC moves to 14-7 (11-5 Midwest Conference) and maintains its position in the crowded top half of the conference standings.
In front of a large Play4theCure crowd,
Hannah McGinnis and
Maddy Keith each put a pair of points on the board in the opening minute of the contest, and the opening run stretched to 11-3 after
Melissa Solorio knocked in a three-pointer with 14:28 remaining in the first half. At that point, the quality of the Lady Blues appeared to be too much for the young Red Hawks, but Ripon was about launch the first of multiple comebacks in the game.
With the lead at seven, 16-9, following an
Ashley Hoegger drive and bucket in the paint, a 9-3 run from Ripon brought them back to within a single point. Solorio responded back with her third three-pointer of the first half to keep IC out in front though, and the Lady Blues would go into the break clutching onto a 27-22 advantage.
The second half followed the same trend. Illinois College would cobble together a small run, building a comfortable lead, but never fully shutting the door on the Red Hawks. IC led by nine points on four occasions in the second half, yet Ripon did enough to stick close each time. A McGinnis layup gave the Lady Blues a 38-29 lead with 11:17 to go, but the next five points belonged to Ripon to pull it within four.
As the clock ticked away, the pressure was no doubt felt more by the home team. When Emma McDonald buried a three-pointer with less than four minutes to play, the Illinois College lead was a single point, 44-43, and the momentum was clearly on the side of the team in red. The next trip down the floor, the ball went to a cutting Keith who scored off the glass with the foul and buried the free throw. McDonald answered in the paint. Solorio was up next with a post move, but McDonald was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three to keep IC ahead by just one, 49-48, with 2:39 remaining.
On the next IC possession, Keith was fouled and made one to put the Lady Blues ahead by two. After McGinnis grabbed a Ripon miss, she got the ball on the block and shoveled a pass to
Jill Friedrich who scored from inside to make it 52-48. As was the case all game, when Ripon needed an answer it seemed to find one from behind the arc. Meg Ryan splashed one to keep Ripon in it at 52-51.
The Lady Blues struggled on their next possession and the ball fell to an off-balance McGinnis with the shot clock about to hit zero. Her effort from long-range found the bottom of the net and forced a Ripon timeout. The Red Hawks then turned the ball over with an offensive foul and Keith hit a free throw after McDonald fouled out to make it 56-51 with 50 seconds remaining.
An offensive rebound and putback from Nicole Herkert the next time down kept Ripon alive. The Red Hawks then applied full-court pressure and forced a turnover. Ryan again dialed up a three-pointer, tying the contest at 56-56 with 33 ticks left in regulation. The last shot would not have belonged to IC, but Ripon made a mistake with the game tied and sent Hoegger to the line. The sophomore coolly drained both to retake a 58-56 edge with 22 seconds to go. With their last chance, the Red Hawks again got a second look (one of 17 offensive rebounds they had in the game), and Herkert laid it in to force an extra session.
If there was a positive for Illinois College going to overtime, it was that Ripon had both its leading scorer and a key reserve foul out in the final minutes of the second half. The Red Hawks had stayed alive by making every play it needed to down the stretch, but the story was bound to change.
After winning the opening tip, Illinois College was the recipient of an odd four-point possession. Keith made a jumper and was fouled. She made the free throw, plus McGinnis was fouled as she stepped into the lane for a potential rebound and made one of her two chances. On the other end, Ripon had one final response, a three-point play from McKenzie Banasik to pull back within one.
More than 90 seconds went by without a score until Keith again was able to score at the rim for a three-point edge. After a Ripon miss, she would be fouled and make both to put Illinois College up, 66-61. Ripon looked to the three-point line again, but Megan Jensen missed and McGinnis hauled in the rebound. On the other end, she hit a jumper to put the Lady Blues up seven with two minutes to play.
There would still be anxious moments. The Red Hawks refused to go away and clawed back within three points with one minute left, until McGinnis powered in for layup with 47 seconds left, then hit a pair of free throws late to give the Lady Blues their final margin of 72-65.
McGinnis was once again a force in the middle for IC, scoring 25 points and nabbing 24 rebounds. Keith ended the game with 19 points and nine rebounds, going 11-of-15 from the charity stripe. Solorio scored 12 in the first half and ended with 16 in the game.
After a wild set of results on Saturday across the conference, Illinois College retains its position at No. 4 in the standings, but with a shuffling of the teams above them. Cornell held off Carroll for a one-point win, moving the Rams up to No.2 in the MWC, only half a game ahead of the Pioneers and Lady Blues. IC controls its destiny into the MWC Tournament and will look to strengthen its position on Wednesday night with a crucial road contest at Monmouth College. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.
