JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team harassed MacMurray College into 36 turnovers and scored 47 points off those turnovers to grab the victory on Sunday afternoon in a Mayor's Cup matchup. A total of 14 players scored for the Lady Blues on the day as they improved to 5-7 on the year with a 97-64 win.
An explosive first quarter from Illinois College saw the Lady Blues take a 29-16 lead after 10 minutes.
Sydney Lett scored the first four points of the game for IC and
Brielle Greenleaf followed with five straight for a 9-5 advantage. After MacMurray cut the deficit to 9-7, the Lady Blues rattled off an 8-0 run, capped by a
Madison Schoenfeld jumper immediately after she had entered the game. As the quarter ticked to a close,
Carly Cameron converted an and-one jumper and an IC steal on MacMurray's 10th turnover led to a Greenleaf free throw to close out the quarter.
Illinois College grew the lead to 20 points after starting the second quarter on a 9-2 run. With the score 38-18, MacMurray attempted to get back into it with a 10-0 run to trim the deficit to 38-28, but the Lady Blues responded with a 10-0 run of their own to retake a 20-point lead. Cameron started the run with two free throws and
Grace Yaunches had a pair of layups in the run to make it 48-28. A Highlander basket just before the horn made it 48-30 at the half.
The Lady Blues opened up a gap as large as 33 points in the third quarter. With the score 50-32, a 10-0 run from Illinois College made it 60-32 thanks to two buckets apiece from Cameron and Greenleaf. A Schoenfeld field goal midway through the quarter made it 69-39 and forced MacMurray into a timeout. From there,
Katie Elmore made her mark on the contest, scoring on a layup, stealing a ball in the MacMurray backcourt and immediately cashing in for another basket. By the end of the quarter, the IC lead was up to 76-47.
Four players scored their first points of the game in the fourth quarter for Illinois College.
Samantha Lordan had the opening basket and
Krista Bass followed with a steal and a fastbreak layup to make it 80-49. As the game ticked down towards its conclusion, both
Kaylee Andrea and
Maggie Dooley got on the board. IC opened up its largest lead of the game, 97-63, on two Dooley free throws with 18 seconds to play and very nearly hit the century mark when
Bri Lockwood had a late three-pointer hit the front rim.
Greenleaf led the Lady Blues in scoring with 19 points. Cameron added 13 on the day and had five assists. Off the bench, Yaunches scored nine points and had a game-high six assists. Elmore hit on all four of her shots to add nine points.
Illinois College returns to Midwest Conference play for its final 13 contests of the regular season. First up is a Jan. 2 home game against St. Norbert College at 5:30 p.m.
