APPLETON, Wis. – The Illinois College women's basketball team held a four-point halftime edge on Lawrence University, but the Vikings got IC into foul trouble and made the Lady Blues pay by knocking down 21-of-27 free throws to come away with a 70-64 win on Friday night in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The loss drops IC to 3-4 (0-1 MWC). The Vikings up their record to 3-2 (1-0 MWC).
Trailing by two after the first quarter, a strong second quarter from Illinois College lifted the Lady Blues to a 31-27 halftime lead. IC was down, 15-13, to start the second quarter but took the lead with a 6-0 run featuring buckets from
Madi Peyton,
Sydney Lett and
Grace Yaunches. The lead grew to seven midway through the quarter until Kenya Earl canned a three-pointer to bring Lawrence back to within four. A jumper by Lett just before the halftime horn extended IC's lead back to four despite three fouls in the first half on leading scorer
Brielle Greenleaf.
Lawrence took the lead right away in the second half with a 7-0 run out of the intermission. The teams then traded baskets for a few minutes until Illinois College was once again able to wrest the lead back from the Vikings on a three-pointer by Yaunches and a layup from
Madison Schoenfeld, making it 43-40. A late push from LU gave it a 46-45 advantage heading to the final 10 minutes.
The fourth quarter was all about Earl. The Lawrence sophomore knocked down a three on the first possession and proceeded to score LU's first eight points. After a Moreau Halliburton triple, the Vikings went on top, 57-49, with less than six minutes to play. As time ticked away, Illinois College was able to fight back within two points on a pair of Yaunches free throws with 19 seconds left, making it 64-62. Forced to foul, IC sent Leah Reeves to the line and she missed one of two, but the Vikings got the offensive rebound and sealed the game in the final seconds at the charity stripe.
Yaunches led Illinois College with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Carly Cameron notched a double-double before fouling out, recording 11 points and 11 boards. Lett ended the night with 12 points as well. Earl was the leading scorer and rebounder on the night with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
MWC play continues tomorrow afternoon for the Lady Blues with a 1 p.m. tip-off at Ripon College.
