The Forester women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit but was unable to hold on in a 61-53 loss at St. Norbert College on Saturday. Junior forward Liz Radtke shot 8-f0r-10 from the free throw line and led Lake Forest with 16 points.
Radtke scored 11 of her points in the second half. Sophomore guard/forward Gina Ambrose and junior point guard Sam Schuring each scored six points after halftime and finished the game with 13 and 10, respectively. They also schared team-high honors with five rebounds apiece and Schuring led all players in the contest with five assists.
Lake Forest shot just 32.1 percent from the field and connected on four of 11 three-pointers and 13 of 19 free throws. St. Norbert shot 38.6 percent from the floor and made just one of 12 attempts from beyond the arc. The Green Knights, however, converted on 26 of their 35 trips to the foul line. The Foresters out-rebounded the home team 41-31 but committed 18 of the game's 33 turnovers.
St. Norbert led by 14 points late in the first half before a three-pointer by Ambrose made the score 35-24 at halftime.
The Foresters trailed 47-34 early in the second half before out-scoring the Knights 14-1 over the next seven minutes. St. Norbert extended its lead to seven points but four points each by junior guard Lindsay Wallaert and Radtke gave Lake Forest a 49-48 advantage with four-and-a-half minutes to play. It turned out to be the only lead of the game for the visitors, however, as St. Norbert scored the next four points from the line, part of an 11-for-14 free throw shooting performance in the game's final four minutes and seven seconds.
Both teams entered the contest undefeated in Midwest Conference play. Lake Forest fell to 4-4 overall this season and 3-1 in league games. The Green Knights are now 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference.
The Foresters will resume league play at home against Illinois College on Saturday, January 7. The game will begin at 1:00 p.m.