The Lake Forest College women's basketball team edged out Knox College 89-88 at home on Saturday. Forester senior forward Liz Radtke and sophomore guard Abby Wiedman combined for 45 points and Wiedman's shot at the buzzer fell in to secure the victory.
Radtke's 26 points and Wiedman's 19 were both career-highs, as were freshman guard Lexi Leneau's 12. Radtke shot 11-for-18 from the field, pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, and matched the highest assist total of her career with six. Wiedman shot 8-for-15 from the field and added six boards. Senior forward Courtney Faulstick also reachd double figures with 10 points and sophomore guard Jenna Rice matched's Radtke's game-high six assists.
The Foresters shot 51.4 percent from the field but just 17-for-30 from the free throw line. The Prairie Fire made 34.2 percent of their field goal attempts, including 31 percent (13-for-42) from three-point range, and 21 of 28 foul shots. Lake Forest out-rebounded the visitors 61-37 but committed 35 of the game's 60 turnovers.
Radtke scored the Foresters' first 10 points as the home team jumped out to a 14-4 lead. Knox battled back and a 9-0 run gave the visitors a 29-26 lead. Lake Forest used a 13-3 run later in the half to regain the advantage but the Prairie Fire scored the final seven points of the period to take a 54-50 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After falling behind by nine early in the second half, Lake Forest outscored Knox 16-2 during a seven-minute stretch to take a 66-61 lead. The score was tied at 70, 74, 80, and 83 before the visitors went ahead by one on a free throw with 1:54 to play. After the team's traded baskets, Knox pulled ahead by three on a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left. Radtke answered with two free throws of her own with 40 seconds on the clock and the Foresters got the ball back, trailing by one, with approximately 15 seconds remaining. Faulstick rebounded a miss by Wiedman and the home team called a timeout with 5.7 seconds to play. Faulstick also missed and the rebound went out of bounds off the Prairie fire with just 0.7 seconds on the clock. Rice tossed the ball to Wiedman, who was under the basket, and Wiedman caught the pass while in the air, and sent the ball toward the hoop. After a few bounces on the rim, the shot fell and the Foresters celebrated the dramatic victory.
Lake Forest is now 11-9 overall this season and alone in fourth place in the Midwest Conference standings with a league mark of 9-6. Knox fell to 7-12 overall and 6-8 in the conference.
The Foresters will play at Knox College Wednesday evening at 5:00.
