By: After a 12-12 tie through the first quarter of play, IC outscored Blackburn by 30 points over the next 20 minutes to claim the victory.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Blackburn College soundly on Tuesday night in IC's home opener. After a 12-12 deadlock after 10 minutes, the Lady Blues took a 33-19 halftime lead and extended out to a 59-29 lead after three quarters before winning, 67-36. Illinois College evens its record on the year at 2-2, dropping Blackburn to 1-3.
Blackburn started the game with a 3-0 lead and it took more than three minutes off the clock before two
Sydney Lett free throws got Illinois College on the board. Layups by
Madi Peyton and
McKenzie Skaggs soon had the Lady Blues out in front, but a team shooting percentage of 31 percent combined with some sloppy play allowed the Beavers to stay close.
Brielle Greenleaf made a layup with just over a minute to go in the period to tie the game at 12-12.
Though Blackburn would go back on top twice, it was a different IC team in the second quarter. The Beavers' last lead would come at 16-15. From there, the Lady Blues went into halftime on an 18-3 run fueled by 57 percent shooting from the floor. Lett had all seven of her points in the first half and Greenleaf had eight of her 10 before the break to help Illinois College go to the half with a 14-point edge.
The strong play continued in the third quarter as
Grace Yaunches connected on an opening three-pointer and two free throws from Skaggs minutes later had the Lady Blues doubling up the Beavers at 42-21. The lead climbed all the way to 32 points in the third quarter, 59-27, after a Megan Price triple, before Blackburn's Maria Cline hit a jumper at the horn to make it 59-29 with 10 minutes left.
The fourth quarter opened with an 8-0 run by the Lady Blues to make it 67-29. Price, Katie Elmore and Kourtney Schuetz all scored in the five-minute span. The Beavers got closer by the end of the game, holding IC scoreless in the final five minutes and scoring seven points of their own.
A total of 12 players scored in the game for Illinois College, led by Yaunches and her game-high 13. Greenleaf and
Shannen Quehl each added 10, with Quehl notching a game-high eight rebounds. Skaggs had nine for IC, while Lett and Price each ended with seven points.
Illinois College heads to North Park University for two games on Nov. 25 and 26. The Lady Blues meet the home-standing Vikings at 2 p.m. on Nov. 25 before facing Elmhurst College in a neutral-site matchup on Nov. 26 at 12 p.m.
