The Forester women's basketball team defeated visiting Beloit College 76-56 Tuesday evening. Lake Forest senior guard Alex Messacar led the home team early in the contest and already had 13 points and 13 rebounds by halftime.
Messacar led all players in the contest with a season-high 19 points and her game-high 17 rebounds are the most by a Forester this season. She shot 4-for-7 from the field, made three of five attempts from three-point range, and knocked down eight of nine foul shots. Messacar also added three steals in her fourth career double-double.
Three other members of the home team reached double figures in points. Senior forward Liz Radtke scored 14, freshman forward Sam Cady 12, and freshman guard Michelle Ricolcol 10. Radtke also led the squad with five assists and freshman forward K.C. Stralka had four to to along with four blocked shots.
Lake Forest shot 39.1 percent from the field in the game and made five of 16 three-pointers and 17 of 24 free throws. Beloit was held to just 29.7 percent shooting from the field and the Buccaneers made four of 13 attempts from beyond the arc and 14 of 18 from the charity stripe. Both teams pulled down 46 rebounds and the Foresters committed just 17 turnovers while forcing 26.
The game was scoreless until Forester sophomore guard Jenna Rice connected on a three-pointer more than four-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The score was tied at 16 before the home team rattled off 12 straight points, including eight by Messacar, in the final two minutes of the period to take a 28-16 lead at halftime.
Radtke and Ricolcol each scored four points during a 10-2 run to begin the second half, giving the Foresters a 20-point lead. Beloit trimmed the margin to 15 on two occasions but got no closer. The Lake Forest advantage grew to a game-high 26 points after a 13-2 run and was at least 20 the rest of the way.
The Foresters raised their overall record to 10-9 and remained in a tie for fifth place in the Midwest Conference standings with a league record of 8-6. Beloit fell to 2-16 overall and 1-12 in the conference.
Lake Forest will host Knox College at 5:00 Saturday evening. The Foresters' annual Christine Neuman-Affourtit Memorial Game will be part of the MWC's Playing for a Cure initiative.
