By: Grinnell outlasted Illinois College, 57-53, on Saturday afternoon. Even with the loss, the Lady Blues were able to clinch a spot in the MWC Tournament thanks to other results around the conference.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – It wasn't the result everyone hoped for on Senior Day for the Illinois College women's basketball team. But despite the 57-53 loss to Grinnell, the Lady Blues (14-9, 11-7 Midwest Conference) will have their season continue into next week. A Lake Forest loss at Carroll allowed IC to sneak into the MWC Tournament with the No. 4 seed and the Lady Blues will do battle with St. Norbert College on Friday evening at 6 p.m. in the MWC Semifinals.
Hannah McGinnis led all scorers and rebounders with 21 points and 18 boards in her final home game. She will go into Friday's contest needing one single rebound to become the second player in MWC history to record at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
Melissa Solorio added 13 points for Illinois College.
In the opening minutes, it seemed that the emotion of the season's last home game would be enough to carry Illinois College to the victory. McGinnis and
Maddy Keith had the opening six points of the contest for a 6-0 Lady Blues lead after two minutes had elapsed. From there though, the game turned into a bit of a slog for IC and Grinnell was able to come back on the strength of the guard play of Alissa Hirsh. A Hirsh steal led to a three-point play, she assisted on a three-pointer the next time down and then stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to account for an 8-0 run that put the Pioneers up, 15-13. IC would come back to take a five-point lead with 3:58 to go in the first half, but Grinnell hit a pair of three-pointers to go into halftime ahead, 29-28.
Illinois College would surge back in front again to start the second half, going up by five after a pair of McGinnis free throws and
Alyssa Garde's second three-pointer of the game. That lead disappeared by the nine-minute mark however, and a Leah Greenberg triple put the Pioneers up, 44-41. The Lady Blues made one last push, tying the game at 46-46 after five straight points from Solorio, but a Hirsh three-point play gave Grinnell a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way with just over four minutes remaining. When McGinnis converted a three-point play to slice the deficit to 52-51, Hirsh responded with a three-point play of her own to regain a four point cushion with less than a minute to go.
Keith ended the game with nine points and made all four of her free throw attempts. Garde ended with six points off the bench.
Thanks to a 64-49 Carroll win over Lake Forest, Illinois College was able to hold on and clinch the No. 4 seed in the MWC Tournament. Carroll and Cornell will play the first semifinal in De Pere, Wis. on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The Lady Blues and Green Knights of St. Norbert will take the court at 6 p.m.
