The Forester women's basketball team was defeated 66-59 at Ripon College on Wednesday and fell to 11-10 overall and 9-7 in Midwest Conference play this season. Lake Forest senior forward Liz Radtke scored a game-high 22 points in the loss.
Radtke also led the visitors with six rebounds and added two assists and two steals. Sophomore guard Abby Wiedman also reached double figures with 11 points and freshman guards Lexi Leneau and Michelle Ricolcol led the Foresters with four assists apiece.
Lake Forest's .417 shooting percentage was slightly highers than the Red Hawks 37.7 and the Foresters also connected one more time than the home team from three-point range. Ripon, however, made 21 free throws to the visitors' 13 and out-rebounded Lake Forest 42-27.
Radtke made a three-pointer to start the game but the Red Hawks scored 23 of the game's next 24 points. The Foresters battled back and trailed by just 12 (31-19) at halftime.
The Ripon lead grew to as many as 17 points in the second half and remained in double figures until a basket by Forester sophomore guard Danielle Canulli with 1:24 to play made the score 57-49. The Red Hawks made nine of 10 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
The Foresters are now a half-game behind Carroll University for fourth place in the conference standings. The top four teams in the league qualify for the MWC Tournament. Ripon is 9-12 overall and 8-8 in the conference, a game behind Lake Forest.
After a weekend off, the Foresters will host Lawrence University next Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. It will be Senior Day and Radtke, forward Courtney Faulstick, and guards Alex Messacar and Lindsay Wallaert wil be honored before their final career home game.