By: Five players scored between 11 and 14 points for IC on Friday, but the Blue Jays were able to fight past the Lady Blues in overtime, 90-84.
Box Score
GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team was seconds away from victory on Friday until a late jumper by Westminster College forced overtime. In the extra session, the Blue Jays outscored the Lady Blues, 11-5, to pull away for the 90-84 victory. IC drops to 1-1 on the season.
In the first quarter, Illinois College took a 9-6 lead midway through, but Westminster responded with a 13-1 outburst before Shannon Propst could end the run with a three-pointer. The Blue Jays took a 21-15 lead after 10 minutes.
Shannen Quehl and
Madi Peyton combined for the first five points of the second quarter to bring the Lady Blues within a point at 21-20. As the quarter ticked down, a
Carly Cameron three-pointer brought IC to within two points at 32-30, and
Bailey Paskach scored the last bucket of the half for Illinois College to make it 34-32. Westminster would go to the locker rooms with a three-point advantage, 35-32.
A Peyton three-ball early in the third quarter knotted the score at 35-35. The Blue Jays briefly re-established a five-point lead, but two Paskach free throws and back-to-back three-pointers from Megan Price put Illinois College up, 47-44.
Brielle Greenleaf gave IC its last lead of the quarter with two minutes to go, making it 52-51, but Westminster went on a quick 9-3 run before
McKenzie Skaggs hit a jumper just before the horn to make it 60-57 going to the final quarter.
With just over seven minutes to play in regulation, Westminster took its largest lead at 68-58, but Illinois College refused to fold. The Lady Blues unfurled a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to get back within three points. The Blue Jays then hit their free throws and went back up by eight, 74-66, with 2:43 to play. IC scored quickly on a three-point play from Greenleaf, and she hit a three with less than a minute to play, bringing the Lady Blues to within one at 77-76. Following a turnover, Skaggs was fouled and hit two to put IC up, 78-77, with 32 seconds left. After another Blue Jay turnover, Skaggs hit one to increase the advantage to 79-77 with 16 seconds left, but a Mirrakohl Johnson jumper just before the horn sent the game to overtime tied at 79-79.
Illinois College had just one lead in overtime, 82-81, after a Paskach jumper with 3:12 to go. From there, Westminster hit on four straight free throws and extended it to a 7-0 run with less than 30 seconds remaining. Price gave the Lady Blues a little bit of hope, but the Blue Jays hit two free throws at the end to seal it.
Both Paskach and Skaggs ended the day with a career-high 14 points. Paskach added a team-high nine rebounds in the game. Greenleaf and Propst each had 12 points, while Quehl added 11. Price had eight points as well.
Illinois College heads straight to Greenville tomorrow to face Greenville University in a 4 p.m. tip.
