BELOIT, Wis. – The Illinois College women's basketball team hung close in the first half, but Beloit College pulled away in the third quarter for a 66-50 win over the Lady Blues on Saturday afternoon. Candace Cunningham came one steal short of a triple-double as she ended the game for the Buccaneers with 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine steals. The Lady Blues fall to 6-8 (2-5 Midwest Conference) with the loss.
Illinois College led early on with a pair of
Carly Cameron buckets giving the Lady Blues an early edge on Beloit. Cunningham tied the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter and a three-pointer from Danielle Strejc gave the Buccaneers the lead for good at 10-7. By the end of the quarter, Beloit had stretched the lead to 16-9.
In the second quarter,
Sydney Lett twice brought Illinois College within a point. Her jumpers early in the quarter made it 17-16 and later 20-19. Beloit managed to stay out in front and the Buccaneers went ahead by eight, 31-23. In the final minute of the half,
Grace Yaunches and
McKenzie Skaggs each scored to make it 31-27 at the break.
The Buccaneers came out strong in the third quarter, opening on an 8-1 run to take a 39-28 advantage. Though the IC bench came into the game and provided some offense later in the quarter, Beloit held a 43-34 lead entering the final quarter of play.
On three occasions in the fourth quarter, Illinois College sliced its deficit to seven points, the last time at 52-45 with 3:40 to play. Beloit took control from there, going on an 8-0 run to lead by 15 points with just over a minute to play. Free throws down the stretch sealed the win for the home side.
Lett led the Lady Blues with 15 points on the afternoon. Cameron added 11 points.
Madison Schoenfeld controlled nine rebounds on the day.
Illinois College returns home on Jan. 8 to host Grinnell College at 5:30 p.m.
