The Lake Forest College women's basketball team defeated visiting Illinois College 71-63 on Saturday to raise its overall record to 8-8 and its Midwest Conference mark to 6-5. Sophomore guard Jenna Rice shot 3-for-4 from three-point range during a career-high 14-point performance.
Rice also dished out three assists and recorded three of the team's season-high 20 steals.
Senior forward Liz Radtke led Lake Forest with 18 points and four assists and she added five rebounds and three steals. Radtke shot 5-for-10 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free throw line.
Sophomore guards Abby Wiedman and Danielle Canulli also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Senior forward Courtney Faulstick scored five points, pulled down five rebounds, and led the home team with four steals and three blocked shots.
Both teams shot 41 percent from the field but the Foresters connected on half of their 12 attempts from three-point range while the Lady Blues were just 3-for-15 from beyond the arc. Lake Forest also had an edge from the foul line, where they shot 21-for-27 and the visitors were just 10-for-16. Illinois College out-rebounded the home team 42-30 but committed 33 turnovers, 11 more than the Foresters.
A Wiedman layup three-and-a-half minutes into the contest broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Foresters the lead for good. A 15-3 run later in the opening period extended the lead to a game-high 14 points and the home team was ahead 35-23 at halftime.
Illinois College scored the first seven points of the second half but Wiedman connected on a three-pointer to end the run. Another three-pointer by Rice a couple minutes later made it a 10-point game but a 10-1 run by the Lady Blues trimmed the margin to a single point (45-44) with 7:37 to play. Back-to-back three-pointers by Wiedman and Rice, however, provided some breathing room for the home team and another three-pointer by Rice with 5:11 left made the score 59-48. After Illinois College rattled off seven straight points to pull to within four, Radtke connected on four free throws and Faulstick made a layup to make it a 10-point game again with 1:28 on the clock. The Lady Blues got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Illinois College fell to 5-11 overall and 3-8 in the conference.
Lake Forest will host St. Norbert College (12-4, 9-2 MWC) Wednesday evening at 5:00.