The Forester women's basketball team dropped a 57-43 decision at Ripon College Friday evening. Junior forward Liz Radtke led Lake Forest with a career-high 18 points.
Radtke scored seven of her points from the foul line and tied with junior guard Alex Messacar for team-high honors with six rebounds. Messacar was next on the team with seven points.
Lake Forest shot a season-low 29.5 percent from the field, 4-for-14 from three-point range, and 13-for-17 from the free throw line. The Red Hawks made 41.5 percent of their field goal attempts but connected on just one of a dozen shots from beyond the arc and 12 of 19 free throws. Ripon had a 38-26 advantage in rebounds and the Foresters committed 27 turnovers, six more than the home team.
Ripon jumped out to a 13-2 lead but the Foresters scored the next 10 points to pull to within one. After the team's traded baskets, the Red Hawks outscored the visitors 13-7 during the final nine minutes of the period and led 28-21 at halftime.
The Red Hawks scored the first three baskets of the second half to extend their lead to 13 points. Lake Forest battled back and trailed by just four (43-39) with 3:54 to play. Ripon scored the next seven points, however, and made seven of 10 free throws in the final 61 seconds to clinch the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 5-6 overall and 4-3 in Midwest Conference play. Ripon is also 4-3 in the conference but has an overall record of 5-7.
The Foresters will travel to Beloit College tomorrow for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.
