Foresters Drop Regular Season Finale to Illinois College

The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 73-64 by visiting Illinois College Saturday afternoon (February 20). The Foresters fell to 15-8 overall this season and 11-5 in Midwest Conference play. The Lady Blues are now 13-10 overall and earned the fourth and final spot in the MWC Tournament with a 9-7 league record.

Senior guard Tracy Rainey (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) led Lake Forest with 14 points in the contest. She also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and the fifth of her career. Senior center Lisa Nassin (Evergreen Park, Ill./Evergreen Park) was next on the squad with nine points and she added six rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Sam Schuring (Elk Grove, Calif./Elk Grove) had eight points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

The Foresters shot 42.6 percent from the field but just 8-for-20 from the free throw line. Illinois College shot 44.4 percent from the floor and made seven of 14 attempts from three-point range. Lake Forest out-rebounded the Lady Blues 41-34 but committed 16 turnovers while forcing just nine.

Illinois College led by as many as nine points in the first half. The Foresters eventually tied the score at 30 with three minutes to play in the period but the Lady Blues regained the advantage and led 38-33 at halftime.

The margin reached 11 points early in the second half but an 11-2 Forester run trimmed it to a single point (52-51) with nine minutes remaining. Illinois College scored the game's next eight points and led by between five and nine points the rest of the way.

Rainey, Nassin, and fellow seniors Claire Schmidt (Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara), Kate Grunauer (Chicago, Ill./Marist), and Paige Keasler (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) were recognized before for their final collegiate home game and all five appeared in the starting lineup.

It was the first annual Christine Neuman-Affourtit Memorial Game and the Affourtit family was also honored before the contest.

The Foresters will be the #3 seed in next weekend's (February 26-27) MWC Tournament at St. Norbert College and will take on Ripon College in Friday's 3:30 p.m. semifinal. A live video webcast of the game will be available at pennatlantic.com. Saturday's final will begin at 6:00 p.m.