The Forester women's basketball team fell 76-62 to Monmouth College in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament at St. Norbert College Friday evening. Freshman guard Abby Wiedman led Lake Forest with 18 points on six three-pointers in the contest.
Wiedman's point total was a career-high and came in just 20 minutes of playing time. Junior forward Liz Radtke was next on the team with 16 points and she added seven rebounds. Junior point guard Sam Schuring finished with seven points and, with a career-high 10 assists, she became just the fourth player in program history to reach double figures in that category.
Lake Forest shot just 32.4 percent from the field and set team records with 12 three-pointers and 38 attempts from beyond the arc. The Foresters made all six of their free throws. Monmouth connected on 45.8 percent of its field goal attempts but on just four of 13 three-pointers. The Fighting Scots made all but two of 20 free throws, out-rebounded Lake Forest 41-38, and committed 13 of the game's 28 turnovers.
The Foresters' only lead of the game was a 6-5 advantage after a jumper by Schuring just over five minutes into the contest. Monmouth scored 18 of the game's next 23 points to build up an 11-point advantage. Three-pointers by freshman Jenna Rice and Radtke, however, cut the lead to five points, but a 9-0 run by the Scots extended it back to 14. The first half ended with Lake Forest trailing 40-27.
Lake Forest outscored Monmouth 17-7 over the first eight minutes of the second half and trailed by just three at that point. The Foresters would get no closer, however, as the lead reacehd double figures again with seven minutes remaining and the Scots made all 10 of their free throws in the final 71 seconds to clinch the victory.
The Forester finished the season at 12-12 while Monmouth raised its record to 15-9. The Fighting Scots advanced to tomorrow's tournament final against Carroll University, which upset host St. Norbert 61-60 in Friday's other semifinal.
