JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team were unlucky on Wednesday night, rallying out of a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to lead by five in the closing minutes of regulation, only to see Grinnell College bank in a desperation three as part of a comeback effort that forced overtime. In the extra session, the Pioneers held defensively late in the game and came away with a 72-68 win. The Lady Blues fall to 8-6 (4-3 Midwest Conference), while the Pioneers match IC at 8-6 (4-3 MWC).
Grinnell controlled much of the first half and Illinois College was fortunate to go to the break trailing by only seven, 32-25. The Lady Blues, normally a reliable three-point shooting team, were 1-of-8 from behind the arc and did themselves no favors by going 2-of-9 from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes. Seven points apiece from
Carly Cameron and
Junie Zirkelbach off the bench helped IC stay in it.
A fast start to the second half brought Illinois College level with the Pioneers midway through the third quarter.
Grace Yaunches hit from beyond the arc to start off the quarter and
Krista Bass was able to tie it up at 38-38 with a short jumper. IC then fell behind as Tyria Heath banked in a three-pointer and the visitors began to pull away, going into the final quarter with a 50-42 advantage.
Another Heath bucket 90 seconds into the fourth quarter gave Grinnell its largest lead at 53-43. That's when things suddenly dried up for the Pioneers. Held scoreless for more than five minutes, the Pioneers gave up the lead as Illinois College rallied with a 14-0 run, tying the game on a jumper from
Lilly Pepper and then going ahead on two free throws from Yaunches. A transition layup by
Megan Price made it 57-53 with four minutes left.
The Lady Blues were ahead by five with less than three minutes left in regulation when a late-in-the-shot-clock three by Emma Nyquist again went in off the glass, giving Grinnell life at 59-57. The Pioneers would eventually pull ahead with 22 seconds left before Cameron knocked down a free throw with nine ticks to go to send the game to overtime at 64-64.
The two sides traded baskets for the first two minutes of overtime, leaving the game tied at 68-68 with three minutes remaining. Illinois College would not score again. A Kate Tomczik layup with 1:16 left on the clock ended up being the game-winner and the Pioneers hit two free throws in the last seconds to put the game away.
Heath ended with a game-high 30 points for Grinnell. Cameron and Yaunches shared team-high honors for the Lady Blues with 14 apiece, while Zirkelbach added 11.
Illinois College goes on the road this weekend, taking on conference leader Ripon College on Jan. 18 at 3 p.m.
