By: The visiting Pioneers opened the game on a 10-0 run and led by 23 at halftime, cruising the rest of the way in a 20-point victory.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The visiting Grinnell Pioneers scored the first 10 points of the contest and cruised to a 71-51 win over the Illinois College women's basketball team on Tuesday night in Sherman Gymnasium. The Pioneers solidified their position in the top four of the Midwest Conference with the win, improving to 11-6 (8-4 MWC), while dropping the Lady Blues to 9-8 (6-6 MWC).
The game couldn't gotten off to a much better start for Grinnell. Alissa Hirsh had four early points and assisted on another bucket, helping the Pioneers out to a 10-0 lead with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Brielle Greenleaf finally hit a tough driving layup to make it 10-2 at the midway point of the quarter, but Grinnell pushed the lead to 17-4 before
Alyssa Garde buried a three-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter to make it 17-7 after one.
The lead grew for Grinnell throughout the second quarter. A Hirsh steal and jumper extended it to a 28-12 game with 4:51 to play in the first half, though
Mickalah York was able to answer quickly on the other end with a short jumper from the wing. Two free throws from
Sydney Lett made it 34-18 with 1:36 to go until the break, but those were the final points for Illinois College in the first 20 minutes. Grinnell closed on a 7-0 run to take a 41-18 lead into the locker rooms.
The 7-0 run went to 12-0 as the Pioneers scored the first five points of the third quarter before York ended the Illinois College drought. Consecutive hoops from Hirsh would give Grinnell its largest lead of the game at 50-20 with 6:42 left in the quarter though. IC tried to claw back in, going on a 6-0 run via a Greenleaf layup, a
Jaicie Halleman three-pointer and a
Shannen Quehl free throw, but it was too little, too late for the Lady Blues. Grinnell grew the lead back to 27 by the end of the third quarter after a Haley Lopez jumper in the final minute.
The Lady Blues fought to the final buzzer, going on a 9-0 run in the fourth to trim a 63-35 deficit to 63-44, capped by a tough finish from
Jill Friedrich in traffic. Later on, a Friedrich jumper cut it to an 18-point game and a Greenleaf three-point play with 1:09 left made it 68-51, but that was all that IC could muster and the final three points went to Grinnell to close out the win.
Garde and Greenleaf shared team-high scoring honors for Illinois College, each ending with nine points on the night. York ended with a season-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. Lett hauled in six rebounds for the Lady Blues.
Illinois College will look to bounce back when it hosts Cornell College on Jan. 30 in Sherman Gymnasium. The Lady Blues and Rams are set for a 5 p.m. tip-off.
