JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team led almost the whole way, but Knox College found a way in the end to emerge with a 59-56 victory over the Lady Blues on Tuesday night. The loss drops IC to 12-12 (8-9 Midwest Conference) and eliminates the Lady Blues from MWC Tournament contention.
Illinois College led, 16-15, after the first quarter of play, but it could have been by more if not for 4-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line in the opening 10 minutes. The advantage grew all the way to nine points for the Lady Blues, 30-21, on a layup from
Madison Schoenfeld midway through the second quarter. Knox was able to tighten it up on the defensive end and hold IC scoreless the rest of the way, going on a 7-0 run into the halftime break to trim the deficit to 30-28.
Nothing came easy for either team in the third quarter, a 14-14 stalemate that left the score 44-42 in favor of Illinois College heading to the fourth. An offensive rebound from
Lakeida Nichols and a driving layup from
Krista Bass with less than six minutes remaining gave the Lady Blues a 53-48 lead, but a scoring drought of more than five minutes ensued from there. A pair of Kyra Huffman free throws put Knox ahead, 57-53, with 10 seconds left. Though
Grace Yaunches knocked down a three-pointer to cut it to one, the Prairie Fire wrapped up the win by hitting two free throws and then blocking a three-point attempt that could have tied it as the buzzer sounded.
Carly Cameron had a big final outing in Sherman Gymnasium with 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Yaunches was the second-leading scorer for the Lady Blues with nine on the night.
The 2019-20 season wraps up on Saturday for Illinois College with a 3 p.m. game at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
