Lady Blues Plagued by Slow Start in Loss

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - Megan Price scored 14 points off the bench, but it wasn't enough as Illinois College couldn't overcome its slow first quarter start, falling to Cornell College by a score of 65-52. IC drops to 3-9 (2-2 Midwest Conference) on the year. Cornell climbs to 6-4 (3-1 MWC).

Haley Grana of Cornell College started the game off with a three, propelling the Rams to a 16-1 run to begin the first quarter. The run, with Illinois College's only point coming off a Shannen Quehl free throw, was capped by Mya Johnson jumper with four minutes remaining in the first period.

The Lady Blues would cut the lead down to 11 points, 16-5, following a Shannon Propst layup in the paint with three minutes remaining. The Rams countered with an 8-1 run, started by a Renee Poulos triple, and capped by another Grana three-pointer. The run gave Cornell a 25-6 advantage over IC, which was what the scoreboard read when the first quarter buzzer sounded.

Illinois College flipped the script in the second quarter. Grace Yaunches hit a jumper, followed by a layup from Propst, to shorten IC's deficit to 15 points, 25-10, early in the quarter. After a Sophia Hollingsworth triple pushed Cornell's lead back to 17 points, the Lady Blues put together a 14-0 run, bringing the Rams' lead down to three, 27-24. Nine of those 14 points came from Brielle Greenleaf in the IC run.

Cornell would break the run right before the buzzer. Johnson hit an eight-foot jumper with one second on the clock, pushing the Rams' lead back to five, 29-24, as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.

The third quarter almost perfectly mirrored the first. Cornell came out of the locker room with hot hands, as the Rams started off the second half on a 17-0 run. It was capped by a Hollingsworth layup and a free throw to add on to it. The run was finally broken by a Greenleaf three-pointer, at which point Cornell held a sizable lead, 46-27, over Illinois College.

Megan Price cut Cornell's lead down to 12 points, 48-36, with a three-pointer with two minutes left in the quarter. Johnson pushed the Rams' lead back up to 15 points with a free throw, 51-36. Price would again cut into the deficit with a triple, hitting her second three-pointer of the game with ten seconds left, leaving the Lady Blues down at the end of the third quarter, 51-39.

Kandis O'Donnell scored four points as part of a 7-0 Cornell College run to begin the fourth quarter. Illinois College's first bucket of the last period came on another Price triple, starting a 7-0 response from the Lady Blues. This set the score at 58-46 with four minutes left in the game. Johnson converted a layup, but Greenleaf responded with a three to cut down the lead to 11 points, 60-49, with just over three minutes left.

Cornell was able to take advantage of the clock to take Illinois College out of striking range. Rose Shimaoka hit two free throws, with one by Poulos, in the final minute to put the Rams up by 16 points, 65-49. Price would hit one more triple with four seconds left, ending the game with the Rams standing victorious, 65-52.

Greenleaf led Illinois College with 17 points. Price produced 14 points off the bench for the Lady Blues. Sydney Himmelman grabbed a team-high six rebounds for IC. Grana finished with 15 points for the Rams, all of them coming from behind the three-point line. Boyd finished with eight, while also pulling down 13 boards.

The Lady Blues hit the road, traveling to Wisconsin on Jan. 6 to face Beloit College at 3:00 p.m. The team returns home on Jan. 13 to face conference foe Lawrence University. Tip for that game is also scheduled for 3:00 p.m.