The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 59-53 at Grinnell College Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard/forward Gina Ambrose led the Foresters with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
Junior forward Liz Radtke and junior point guard Sam Schuring also reached double figures in scoring with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Schuring added six rebounds and three steals.
Lake Forest shot slightly less than 30 percent from the field and made just one of 17 attempts from three-point range. Grinnell made exactly one-third of their field goal attempts and four of 16 three-pointers. Both team missed just three free throws, the visitors in 17 tries and the Pioneers in 22. The Foresters had a slight 43-42 edge in rebounds and both teams committed 18 turnovers.
Grinnell led by as many as 13 points late in the opening period but six points by Schuring fueled a 12-4 Lake Forest run over the final four-and-a-half minutes of the half.
The Pioneers scored the first five points of the second half to take a 35-25 advantage. Ambrose then scored seven points during a 14-3 Forester run that put the visitors ahead 39-38 with 9:47 to play. The lead changed hands seven times in the next nine minutes, the last on a Grinnell layup with 1:05 to play. The home team knocked down eight free throws in as many attempts in the final minute to secure the victory.
Lake Forest, Grinnell, Carroll University, and Ripon College all finished the regular season 12-11 overall and tied for third place in the Midwest Conference at 11-7 in league play. The Foresters will be the #3 seed in next weekend's MWC Tournament at St. Norbert College by virtue of their 4-2 record against the other tied teams and will take on Monmouth College in Friday's 5:00 p.m. semifinal. St. Norbert will host Carroll at 7:00 and the final will be played at 3:00 Saturday afternoon.