By: Though a berth back into the Midwest Conference Tournament will have to wait until next year, the Lady Blues spoiled Grinnell’s Senior Day with a 67-60 victory on Saturday.
Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – While the quest for a return trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament came up one game short for the Illinois College women's basketball team, the Lady Blues will at least bring confidence and momentum back with them in 2016-17 after ending their season on Saturday with a 67-60 win on the road over Grinnell College. The Pioneers will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend's MWC Tournament despite the loss, but IC hung with them throughout and put the game away late in the fourth quarter. Illinois College ends with a winning record for the third straight season under
Lora Westling, going 12-11 (9-9 MWC), while Grinnell drops to 15-8 (12-6 MWC).
The first half was a tight affair with little to separate the two teams. There were nine first half ties, the last of which came just before the buzzer when
Mickalah York grabbed an offensive rebound and laid in the putback to make it 31-31 at the break. Grinnell took a 4-0 lead early on, but seniors
Jill Friedrich and
Hanna Bergkoetter each scored to tie it at 4-4 and
Brielle Greenleaf followed with her first bucket to give the Lady Blues a 6-4 lead.
Shannen Quehl scored with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter to maintain IC's two-point lead, but the final three points of the quarter belonged to the Pioneers to give them a 16-15 edge after one.
The biggest lead of the first half was four by Grinnell and the Pioneers worked their way back to a 27-23 lead with 2:34 remaining before the break, but
Sydney Lett supplied the Lady Blues with six straight points down the stretch to tie the game at 29-29. Following a pair of Alissa Hirsh free throws in the closing seconds, IC hurried the ball down the court and York grabbed the Friedrich miss to knot the score at halftime.
Grinnell threatened to pull away in the second half, scoring the first five points in the opening minute of the third quarter and taking a 45-36 lead with 2:26 remaining in the quarter after a Lydia Stariha layup. Illinois College ended the third on a 7-0 run however, cutting the deficit back to two entering the fourth.
Mallory Battefeld helped the cause with a pair at the line and Quehl did the same 20 seconds later. Greenleaf nailed a three-pointer to make it 45-43 with 10 minutes to go.
A Hirsh layup with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter extended the Pioneers back out to a four-point lead at 49-45, but the Lady Blues answered back with an 8-0 run over 2:30 to take a 53-49 edge. Greenleaf had the last five points of the run and a Quehl layup a minute later made it 55-50 with 4:15 to play.
Grinnell wouldn't go quietly and with less than two minutes remaining, the IC lead was trimmed to a single point at 55-54. Needing a bucket, the Lady Blues used a timeout and the ensuing possession ended with a nice entry feed from Greenleaf to Quehl for an easy two. On the other end, Anne Boldt was whistled for a charge and Friedrich took advantage with a spinning hoop in the lane to make it 59-54 with 1:09 left. The Pioneers made a layup to cut it back to three, but
Melissa Solorio made a pair at the stripe, as did Lett moments later to increase the Illinois College lead to 63-56 with only 38 ticks left. It was all a matter of making free throws from there and the Lady Blues did their job at the line to hold on in the closing seconds.
Greenleaf ended as the high scorer in the game for Illinois College with 13 points. Quehl ended with a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards. Lett also had 12 points and Friedrich closed her career with 11 points and six rebounds. Bergkoetter added eight points and four rebounds before fouling out.
Illinois College ends its 2015-16 season on a two-game winning streak and as winners of three of its last four. The Lady Blues were at one point 9-5 (6-3 MWC) before a midseason injury suffered by leading scorer
Melissa Solorio began to take its toll. IC then lost five in a row to fall out of contention for a conference tournament berth before rallying down the stretch. Though Bergkoetter and Friedrich will graduate, the Lady Blues will welcome back four of their top six leading scorers next season.
