By: After a big third-quarter comeback, the Lady Blues couldn’t keep the momentum going as Lawrence controlled play in the final 10 minutes and emerged with a 64-56 win.
Box Score
APPLETON, Wis. – The Illinois College women's basketball team rallied with a huge third-quarter run to lead going into the fourth quarter, but couldn't sustain the momentum and Lawrence University scrapped back for a 64-56 win on Friday night in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The Lady Blues fall to 2-5 (0-1 MWC), while the Vikings go to 1-3 (1-0 MWC) on the season.
The game started well for Illinois College, with the Lady Blues taking a 13-7 lead after the opening quarter of play.
Brielle Greenleaf and
Shannen Quehl each had four points early on for IC. A Shannon Propst jumper midway through the quarter made it 11-6, and Greenleaf followed with a jumper a couple minutes later. Kenya Earl pulled the Vikings a point closer with a free throw near the end of the opening period.
That free throw by Earl represented the first point of what would become an 8-0 run by the Vikings as the second quarter got underway.
Sydney Lett,
Darian Session, and
Grace Yaunches all had buckets as the Lady Blues responded back with a 6-0 burst, but after IC had a 19-14 lead, the Vikings scored 15 of the final 21 points in the quarter to take a 29-25 edge at the break.
The Vikings came out strong with the first five points of the third quarter to push the lead to nine before Session was able to follow her own miss and score to get the Lady Blues back on the board. Later in the quarter, Greenleaf had back-to-back three-pointers to put Illinois College back on top, 39-38. After trailing, 38-29, IC went to the final quarter of play on a 12-0 and a Quehl basket on the opening possession of the fourth quarter pushed the run to 14-0.
After that make from Quehl, the offense dried up for the Lady Blues. Lawrence went on a 15-1 run over five minutes to take a 53-44 advantage with less than five minutes to play. The Lady Blues were able to close to within four points on two occasions, but the Vikings made their free throws down the stretch to hang on.
Greenleaf ended the night with team highs of 19 points and nine rebounds. Lett and Yaunches each had seven points. Earl led Lawrence with a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Illinois College returns to action tomorrow, facing St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. starting at 3 p.m.
Update (12/27): Lawrence has forfeited the win from this game due to a self-reported secondary violation. The Lady Blues remain with an overall record of 3-7, but their Midwest Conference record improves to 2-1 on the season instead of 1-2.
