LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to tie the game with less than 30 seconds remaining, but a foul call with two seconds left resulted in a pair of free throws that were knocked in by Hannah Hiland, giving Lake Forest College a 76-74 victory over IC on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Lady Blues to 9-14 (5-11 Midwest Conference), while the Foresters all but assure themselves of a MWC Tournament bid by improving to 12-11 (11-5 MWC).
A slow start from Illinois College saw the team fall behind by a score of 17-8 after the end of the first quarter. The game was knotted at 6-6 with more than six minutes gone in the game, but Lake Forest ended the frame on an 11-2 run. The Lady Blues pulled within two points in the second quarter, but by halftime, Lake Forest had re-established a comfortable lead at 35-25.
An up-tempo third quarter saw Illinois College get back in it. The Lady Blues scored more in the quarter than they had in the first half, slicing the Lake Forest lead to 55-51.
Megan Price led the comeback with 12 points in the third quarter alone.
A Kelsey Burton bucket with 3:19 remaining put the Foresters ahead, 69-60, but Illinois College answered with an 8-0 run. Price had five points and
Madi Peyton supplied the other triple in the run that pulled IC within a single point. As seconds ticked away,
Grace Yaunches drove the lane and scored at the rim to tie the game at 74-74 with 22 seconds left. On the other end of the floor,
Carly Cameron challenged a jump shot from Hiland and was whistled for a foul with two seconds left. Hiland swished both and IC's inbounds pass was stolen away to seal the Lake Forest win.
Price ended with a career-high 22 points. Yaunches scored 16 off the bench and Peyton added 15 on the day, hitting all six of her field goal attempts.
Illinois College plays its final road game of the season on Feb. 13, traveling to Knox College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
