The Lake Forest College women's basketball team hosted and defeated Grinnell College 62-58 on Saturday. The Foresters held the Pioneers to just 22 second-half points and freshman Danielle Canulli led the home team with 15 points, including five in the final minute of the game.
Canulli shot 4-for-8 from the field and 7-for-10 in the contest. She also pulled down five rebounds and recorded three steals.
Junior forward Liz Radtke was next on the squad with a dozen points. She also finished with five rebounds and led the Foresters with four assists.
Lake Forest shot 37.9 percent from the field and made five of 15 three-pointers and 13 of 19 free throws. Grinnell was held to just 30.8 percent shooting from the field and the visitors knocked down eight of 21 attempts from three-point range and 10 of 13 foul shots. The Pioneers out-rebounded the home team 46-39 but committed 20 turnovers to the Foresters' 14.
The Foresters scored the game's first five points and led by as many as 12 (19-7) in the first half. Grinnell, however, used a 14-2 run to tie the score and, a few minutes later, an 8-0 run to pull ahead by nine. Lake Forest scored eight of the final nine points of the opening period and trailed 36-34 at halftime.
Grinnell scored the first seven points of the second half and led 43-34 after a traditional three-point play with 17:48 to play. The Forester defense then took over, surrendering just two points in the next six minutes while scoring 14 and pulling ahead by three. After a pair of Pioneer free throws trimmed the lead to one with 11:43 left, a free throw and a basket by Canulli accounted for the game's only points over the next 5:52. The visitors briefly regained the lead on a basket with three minutes on the clock but offensive rebounds by Canulli and Radtke and a jumper by freshman forward Rose Coll on the next possession put the Foresters back on top. Radtke nailed a three-pointer to make the score 57-53 with 1:26 remaining but the Pioneers answered with a three-pointer of their own with a minute to play. Canulli made one of two free throws with 50.4 seconds left and a layup with 18.3 left to regain the home team's four-point advantage. Grinnell scored with six seconds to go and fouled Canulli with 1.2 on the clock. She knocked down both free throws to seal the victory.
The Foresters evened their overall record at 8-8 and raised their Midwest Conference mark to 7-5. Grinnell fell to 9-7 overall and 8-4 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Monmouth College Tuesday evening at 5:30.
