The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 76-70 by visiting Illinois College on Saturday. Forester sophomore guard/forward Gina Ambrose tied for the team lead with a dozen points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Junior guards Sam Schuring and Lindsay Wallaert also scored 12 points, junior forward Liz Radtke added 10, and junior guard Alex Messacar chipped in with nine. Schuring and Radtke dished out six assists apiece and Radtke recorded four steals.
After shooting 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half, the Foresters made just 10 of 40 field goal attempts in the second and finished at 36.6 percent. The home team also shot 4-for-14 from three-point range and 14-for-22 from the foul line. Illinois College connected on 44.9 percent of its field goal attempts, including eight of 17 three-pointers, and made 24 of 32 free throws. Lake Forest had a slight 39-38 edge in rebounds and committed just 12 turnovers while forcing 19.
Messacar, Ambrose, and Wallaert each made a three-pointer as the Foresters started the game with a 12-0 run. After a 15-5 Lady Blue run cut the lead to two Lake Forest outscored the visitors 19-7 over the next seven minutes to take a 36-22 advantage. The lead was 14 again with 4:49 to play in the period before Illinois College scored 14 of the game's next 17 points. A Schuring layup in the final 10 seconds gave the Foresters a 45-40 halftime lead.
Six points was the largest lead for either team in the second half that included five ties and five lead changes. The Lady Blues took the lead for good on a basket with 1:11 to play and added four points on free throws with 34 and 23 seconds left. Schuring made a jumper with eight seconds remaining to cut the lead to four but two more free throws a couple of seconds later clinched the victory for the visitors.
Lake Forest fell to 4-5 overall this season and 3-2 in Midwest Conference play. The Lady Blues are now 3-7 overall and also 3-2 in the league.
The Foresters will be back in action next Tuesday evening at Knox College. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m.
