The Forester women's basketball team was defeated 74-66 by visiting Cornell College, the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, on Saturday. Lake Forest freshman guard Michelle Ricolcol scored 17 points, recorded two steals, dished out four assists, and led all players in the contest with a career-high nine rebounds.
Ricolcol shot 7-for-10 from the floor and made her only three field goal attempts and both of her free throws in 33 minutes of play. She was actually one point behind senior forward Liz Radtke for team-high honors. Radtke scored 18 points on the afternoon to raise her team-high scoring average to 14.0 points per game. Senior guard Alex Messacar shot 4-for-5 from the field during a 10-point performance and added six rebounds.
Cornell shot 44.9 percent from the field, just slightly higher than the Foresters' 43.6. The Rams also connected on 10 of 20 three-pointers and 20 of 26 free throws while the home team shot just 5-for-15 from beyond the arc and 13-for-21 from the line. Despite being out-rebounded 38-26, Lake Forest stayed in the game by committing only 10 turnovers while forcing 19.
A 21-4 run in the opening period gave Cornell a 39-22 lead. The Foresters scored the final six points of the half but still trailed 41-29 at halftime.
Lake Forest continued that run after the break, rattling off 11 straight points to tie the score at 41. A layup by Radtke with 15:15 remaining gave the Foresters their first lead since scoring the first point of the game and a three-pointer by junior guard/forward Gina Ambrose with 12:36 to play put the home team on top by one again. It turned out to be the last lead of the contest for Lake Forest, as Cornell scored 11 of the next 12 points and led the rest of the way. Messacar's rebound and put-back with 6:06 on the clock and her three-pointer with four minutes left each cut the deficit to five but the Foresters would get no closer.
The Rams remained perfect on the season at 12-0 overall and 7-0 in Midwest Conference play. Lake Forest is now 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the league.
The Foresters will play at Lawrence University next Wednesday evening at 5:00.
