The Lake Forest College women's basketball team defeated visiting Ripon College 67-63 in overtime on Wednesday. Junior guard/forward Gina Ambrose and senior forward Liz Radtke combined to score 35 points, including 30 of the team's 40 after halftime.
Radtke led all players in the game with 18 points, including 10 in 14 attempts from the free throw line. She also pulled down five rebounds and added three steals. Ambrose entered the game with 11:43 to play in the second half and scored 17 points while playing the rest of the game. She shot 4-for-6 from three-point range and 5-for-6 from the line and also matched Radtke's five rebounds.
Forester sophomore guard Abby Wiedman also reached double figures with 10 first half points. She shot 4-for-5 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Courtney Faulstick led the team with a career-high six assists.
Lake Forest shot 35 percent from the floor while the Red Hawks connected on 48 percent of their field goal attempts. The Foresters were also out-rebounded 41-29 and committed 27 turnovers. However, the home team made 10 of 24 three-pointers, twice as many as in any other game this season, and had a 19-9 advantage in made free throws.
The Foresters jumped out to a 19-10 lead but Ripon quickly came back to tie the score at 24 and eventually led 33-27 at halftime.
Lake Forest battled back to tie the score at 38 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Lexi Leneau with 14:42 remaining in the second half. The Red Hawks pulled ahead again and led by five before back-to-back three-pointers by Ambrose gave the home team a 55-54 lead with 4:22 left. After a basket by Radtke extended the lead to three, Ripon scored on a layup with three minutes to play and made one of two free throws with 59 seconds on the clock for the game's seventh tie. Ambrose was fouled and made both free throws with 37.6 ticks left but the Red Hawks scored again with 15.8 second to play to force overtime.
Forester freshman guard Michelle Ricolcol made a layup and was fouled 27 seconds into the overtime period and Ambrose doubled the lead on a three-pointer with 3:53 to play. Four missed free throws by Lake Forest down the stretch kept Ripon in the game but the home team held on to the lead and Ambrose clinched the victory on a free throw with seven seconds on the clock.
Lake Forest raised its overall record to 5-6 and evened its Midwest Conference mark at 3-3. Ripon fell to 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the league.
The Foresters will host Cornell College Saturday afternoon at 3:00.