GRINNELL, Iowa – The Illinois College women's basketball team picked a good time to have its best game of the season in terms of ball control and free throw shooting, erasing a 13-point deficit and coming away with a huge 72-67 road win over Grinnell College on Wednesday night. The win pulls the Lady Blues back to .500 at 11-11 on the season, with a 7-8 mark in the Midwest Conference.
A fast-paced first quarter ended with Grinnell on top, 23-20, and momentum continued to go in favor of the Pioneers early in the second quarter. The Lady Blues went down by as much as 13 points, 35-22, before a strong ending to the first half that included a shot just before the buzzer for
Carly Cameron that cut it to eight, 39-31, at the break.
Illinois College continued to trail by eight late into the third quarter before
Madison Schoenfeld and
Lakeida Nichols combined for the final five points to make it a 52-49 game heading to the fourth.
Both teams traded buckets throughout the fourth quarter, keeping Grinnell just out ahead of the Lady Blues as time ticked away. A Tyria Heath layup with 1:47 left gave the Pioneers a 66-62 lead. The game changed suddenly just seconds later as Cameron was fouled and hit two foul shots.
Grace Yaunches stole the inbounds pass and shoveled it to
Junie Zirkelbach for the game-tying layup.
Illinois College was whistled for a foul with 1:15 remaining and Grinnell took a 67-66 lead after hitting one of two at the line.
Megan Price then connected on an elbow jumper on the other end to give IC a lead for the first time since midway through the first quarter as the clock went under a minute. The Pioneers missed on a pair of three-point attempts in the final minute and Yaunches clinched the win by hitting all four of her foul shots in the final seconds.
The Lady Blues had their best night of the season from the foul line (25-of-27) and committed their fewest turnovers (13) all season. Yaunches ended with 17 points, including 10-of-10 at the line. Cameron had 15, hitting nine free throws. Zirkelbach also hit double-figures with 10.
Illinois College comes home to Sherman Gymnasium on Saturday for a Senior Day matchup with Lake Forest College at 5 p.m.
