By: Bailey Paskach scored 19 points – including the game-winning basket – but the game wasn’t decided until Grinnell missed a layup at the final buzzer.
Box Score
GRINNELL, Iowa –
Bailey Paskach scored a career-high 19 points off the bench and had the game-winning basket with less than 10 seconds remaining as Illinois College held off Grinnell College, 68-67. Kayla Morrissey, the Midwest Conference's top scorer, had an open look in the final second of the game, but her layup missed and the Lady Blues held on to improve to 7-14 (5-7 MWC).
Grinnell jumped out quickly and took its largest lead, 12-4, midway through the first quarter. Paskach entered the game and helped pull Illinois College within three, 14-11, with a pair of baskets.
Sydney Himmelman had the final field goal of the quarter, making it 16-13 in favor of the Pioneers after 10 minutes.
Paskach continued to provide offense for the Lady Blues, and her nine points in the second quarter alone saw Illinois College come all the way back and eventually go on top by as many as four points.
Madi Peyton knocked in a three-pointer in the final minute to give IC a 37-36 advantage, but a three from Regan Kasprak just before the buzzer gave Grinnell a 39-37 halftime edge.
After a relatively quiet first half,
Shannen Quehl exploded in the second half. Grinnell threatened to pull away in the third quarter, leading by five points on four occasions, but the scoring and rebounding of Quehl helped the Lady Blues stay in it. With less than eight minutes to go in the game, a Kasprak jumper gave the Pioneers a 58-53 lead, but Quehl responded with a layup and Paskach made it a one-point deficit a minute later.
With two minutes to go,
Grace Yaunches made one of two free throws to tie the contest at 62-62. With just over a minute left, Yaunches drove in for a layup to knot it again at 64-64. On the subsequent Grinnell possession, Morrissey missed a shot and committed an unnecessary foul. Quehl calmly went to the line and made a pair to give IC a 66-64 lead. The Pioneers then got a clutch three-pointer from Tyria Heath with 15 seconds to play, giving Grinnell a one-point lead. The Lady Blues answered right back as Paskach got the ball in the high post and drove around her defender to score at the rim with eight seconds left.
Illinois College had fouls to give and burned two of them, the end result of which had Grinnell putting up a prayer with two seconds to go. The shot had no chance of going in and Quehl grabbed the board, but she came down and stepped out of bounds just before the final horn. That gave the Pioneers the ball under the basket with 0.4 seconds on the clock. As the inbounds play unfolded, Morrissey faked one way and then slipped to the rim, getting free and receiving the pass, however she rushed the layup and missed the easy look at the horn, allowing the Lady Blues to escape with the win.
The Lady Blues enjoyed a 38-14 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded Grinnell, 44-34. Quehl did much of that damage for IC, scoring 17 points and hauling in 15 rebounds. Yaunches added 10 points and
Sydney Lett ended with seven points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Illinois College returns home on Feb. 7 to take on Beloit College at 7:30 p.m.
