By: Illinois College shot less than 33 percent from the floor and committed 29 turnovers in a 67-51 loss to Cornell College.
Box Score
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Illinois College women's basketball team hung tough in the first half with Cornell College, but a big run out of the gates in the second half from the Rams proved too much to overcome. The Rams dealt the Lady Blues their first Midwest Conference loss of the season and took the MWC lead in the process, improving to 7-3 (5-0 MWC) and sending IC to 7-3 (4-1 MWC) with a 67-51 decision on Wednesday night.
Early on, the height advantage from Cornell forced unforced errors on offense from Illinois College and allowed the Rams to open up a lead. Though
Brielle Greenleaf connected on a three-pointer to give the Lady Blues a 4-2 lead with a couple minutes gone, the Rams followed with an 8-0 run before
Shannen Quehl stopped it with a pair of free throws.
Melissa Solorio and Quehl scored a pair of post buckets later in the quarter to pull the Lady Blues to within 12-10, but Cornell again came back with a 6-0 run to take an 18-10 lead. Solorio nailed a three-pointer just before the end of the quarter to make it 18-13 through 10 minutes of play.
Solorio then had the first bucket of the second quarter to bring Illinois College within three, but Cornell began to pull away before a late push from the Lady Blues. With the Rams on top, 28-21,
Carly Cameron laid one in, then received a feed from
Grace Yaunches after Yaunches stole the inbounds pass to pull within three. Solorio ended the half by sliding inside to score another layup, drawing the Lady Blues to within 31-27 at the break.
Cornell turned the tide of the game with an 8-0 run out of halftime in which four different players scored.
Jaicie Halleman and
Mickalah York had consecutive layups to bring the Lady Blues within eight, but turnovers continued to mount in the game for Illinois College and soon the Rams had a 46-31 lead. A quick 6-0 burst from the Lady Blues brought IC back to within single digits, but late in the third quarter Cornell got hot from outside the arc and took a 55-38 advantage going into the final quarter of play.
After Cornell took its largest lead of the game at 59-40, Quehl scored inside and Cameron connected on four straight free throws. By that time, more than half of the final quarter was over and the Lady Blues had to deal with the clock as well as the Rams. Diamond Boyd ended the brief 6-0 run from Illinois College and then leaked out for a fast break layup to essentially ice the game at 63-46 with 3:28 remaining. Though the Lady Blues wouldn't allow a field goal from that point on, the damage had been done and Cornell held on easily.
Quehl ended with team highs of 11 points and nine rebounds in the game for Illinois College. Solorio and Cameron each added 10 points apiece. The Lady Blues ended the night with 29 turnovers, negating a 45-38 rebounding advantage that IC held on Cornell.
Illinois College returns home to Sherman Gymnasium on January 7 for a 1 p.m. contest against Beloit College.
