By: Illinois College led by 13 in the third quarter, trailed in the fourth quarter, and eventually won by 15.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team heated up at the right time on Wednesday night, surviving a push from Beloit College and coming away with a 73-58 win over the Buccaneers. The win keeps the Lady Blues alive in the Midwest Conference Tournament race, improving to 8-14 (6-7 MWC). Beloit falls to 3-18 (1-13 MWC).
Brielle Greenleaf had half of Illinois College's 30 first-half points, but it took the junior a little while to get going.
Shannen Quehl started things off with the first two baskets of the game for the Lady Blues and
Grace Yaunches got in on the action with a steal and fast-break layup. Greenleaf got on the board by getting fouled and going to the line for two, then by making her first field goal halfway through the quarter. Her layup with 15 seconds left gave IC a 17-7 edge after 10 minutes.
The Illinois College lead grew to 13 points in the second quarter when
McKenzie Skaggs scored in transition to make it 25-12 with 5:30 left until the half. Beloit stayed in it with a 6-0 run to pull within seven, and the Buccaneers also added the final five points of the half to go to the break with the Lady Blues out in front, 30-23.
A 10-2 run over a three-minute span of the third quarter extended Illinois College's lead from 34-29 to 44-31. Quehl had four points for IC in that stretch, the last two of which came off of a nice inside feed from
Sydney Himmelman. After calling timeout, Beloit regrouped and went on an 8-0 of its own, pulling back to within five points. The Lady Blues went to the fourth quarter with a 51-46 lead.
The first seven points of the fourth quarter belonged to Beloit, putting the visitors out in front, 53-51. Greenleaf scored a much-needed bucket with the foul for the Lady Blues, tying the game and then putting IC ahead by a point after the free throw. The Buccaneers went on top one last time, but Greenleaf scored again on the other end, and this time IC was able to get a stop and then a timely three-pointer from
Madi Peyton to make it 59-55.
Though Beloit called timeout, the Bucs finally ran out of answers. Those five unanswered points from the Lady Blues turned into the start of a 15-0 run that made it 69-55 with just over a minute left. IC hit its free throws in the final minute to stay comfortably in front and closed out the 15-point victory.
Greenleaf ended with a game-high 22 points, while Quehl notched a double-double for the third game in a row with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Sydney Lett ended with nine points and
Bailey Paskach led the Lady Blues off the bench with five points and nine rebounds.
Illinois College faces a big test on Feb. 10, going on the road to face Ripon College at 3 p.m.
