Lady Blues Tripped Up by Late Beloit Rally

Box Score

BELOIT, Wis. – The Illinois College women's basketball team went toe-to-toe on the road with Beloit College on Wednesday night, but the Buccaneers made two free throws in the final moments to emerge with a 70-68 win over the Lady Blues. Sydney Lett led all scorers in the game with 35, but Beloit rallied out of a five-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to earn the win. IC fell to 9-10 (6-8 Midwest Conference) with the loss while the Buccaneers improved to 7-12 (5-9 MWC).

The first half followed a theme of Beloit trying to open up a sizable lead on Illinois College, only for the Lady Blues to reel them back into the game. In the first quarter, five straight points from Laura Panicali gave the Buccaneers a 15-8 lead with 2:27 to go in the frame, but Brielle Greenleaf had five points in a 7-0 run that also included a Jill Friedrich layup to tie the score at 15-15. A layup just before the horn put Beloit ahead, 17-15, going into the second.

Things didn't go too well for IC in the second quarter until the very end. Beloit extended its lead to 34-21 with less than three minutes to go in the half on a Shelby Kline three-ball, but those were the last points of the half for the Buccaneers. The final 12 belonged to Illinois College, with Lett starting it off with a three-pointer and adding another one later in the run. In the final minute, Hanna Bergkoetter knocked down a jumper and a Friedrich layup just before the buzzer made it a 34-33 game at the break.

The 12-0 run would eventually make it all the way to 18-0 as Illinois College scored the first six points of the third quarter. Lett was unstoppable in the first two minutes, scoring all six to stake the Lady Blues to their first lead since it was 4-3. It was now Beloit's turn to rally and the Buccaneers would go from down five to up two after a Lana Wieseman bucket with 2:11 remaining in the quarter, however IC would close with a 9-2 spurt to take a 53-48 edge into the last 10 minutes.

Beloit would score the first four points of the fourth to shrink its deficit to a single point, but a 9-1 run from the Lady Blues followed. Alyssa Garde nailed an important trey during the run and Lett capped it with a pair at the charity stripe to make it 62-53 with just 5:30 remaining. The Buccaneers refused to go away however, locking down the IC offense for nearly three minutes and cutting it to a three-point game with 3:24 left. Lett finally broke the dry spell with a jumper, but Wieseman answered on the other end to make it 64-61 in favor of Illinois College as the clock rolled under two minutes to play.

The value of free throws in basketball cannot be overstated and it truly decided the game down the stretch. In the last two minutes, only one field goal was made – a Tegan Rock jumper that put Beloit ahead, 65-64 – while 11 other points came at the foul line. Unfortunately, seven of those 11 free throws belong to the Buccaneers. After Bergkoetter swished in two clutch foul shots with less than 30 seconds left to tie the game at 68-68, Panicali was fouled under the basket with five seconds left. She made both and a desperation three from Friedrich at the horn was no good.

Friedrich was the only other player in double-figures for IC on the night, ending with 10. Shannen Quehl hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds. Lett had five steals in addition to her career high night in scoring.

Illinois College returns home on Feb. 6 to host Lawrence University at 3 p.m. in Sherman Gymnasium. The Lady Blues will Play4Kay and fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game. All donations before and during the game will go towards the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.