By: Down five at halftime, Illinois College outscored the Foresters, 20-6, in the third quarter and held on from there.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill.- Behind 24 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore
Brielle Greenleaf, the Illinois College women's basketball earned the program's 450th all-time victory on Wednesday night, overcoming Lake Forest College for a 60-54 victory. The Lady Blues improve to 5-2 (4-0 Midwest Conference), while Lake Forest drops to 2-5 (1-3 MWC).
Though Illinois College scored the first four points of the game, Lake Forest came back to take a 13-7 lead when Molly Schoenlein knocked home a jump shot with 3:25 left in the first quarter. Greenleaf answered with a three-ball and
Carly Cameron banked in a layup to cut the lead to 13-12, but the Foresters would hold on to take a 17-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Things got worse for Illinois College before they got better. A jumper from Kara Norvet gave Lake Forest a double-digit lead for the first time at 25-15 with 6:51 remaining until halftime. The lead peaked at 28-16 for the Foresters before the Lady Blues began to rally. Greenleaf scored 15 of her 24 points in the first half, and her play helped bring IC back within five, 32-27, at the break.
Illinois College came out of the half ready to play as the Lady Blues put together an 8-0 run to open up the third quarter, giving them a 35-32 lead.
Sydney Lett had the go-ahead basket and Cameron added two free throws to take a three-point lead. After the Foresters cut the IC lead back to one, Greenleaf and
Grace Yaunches hit back-to-back three-pointers to force a timeout from Lake Forest. Illinois College would get two more treys from Greenleaf and
Jaicie Halleman and end the quarter with a 47-38 edge.
Cameron would score the first six points of the fourth quarter for the Lady Blues, helping IC maintain a 54-45 lead with five minutes remaining.
Mickalah York then stepped out to the wing for a short jumper with the shot clock running down. The Foresters sliced the Illinois College lead to 56-52 at the 1:49 mark, but a jumper by Lett and two free throws by Cameron in the final minute sealed the 60-54 win.
Cameron continued her hot start for IC, dropping 18 points and collecting a team-high 14 rebounds to earn another double-double. Lett ended with seven points and six assists.
The Illinois College women's basketball team is off until Dec. 20, when the Lady Blues travel down to San Juan for the Puerto Rico Clasico to square off against St. Mary's College of Maryland. The Lady Blues also face Crown College in San Juan on Dec. 21.
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