The Lake Forest College women's basketball team hosted and defeated Lawrence University 62-58 on Tuesday. The Foresters' four seniors combined for 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 16 assists in their final career home game and helped head coach Tamlyn Tills record her 200th career victory.
Senior forward Liz Radtke led Lake Forest with a dozen points, tied for the team lead with six rebounds, and earned game-high honors by dishing out a career-high eight assists. Fellow senior forward Courtney Faulstick scored seven points and senior guards Lindsay Wallaert and Alex Messacar added six points apiece.
Freshman guard Michelle Ricolcol was the only other Forester to score in double figures with 11 points. She shot 5-for-7 from the field and recorded a pair of steals on the evening. Freshman forward Sam Cady matched Radtke's six rebounds and added a game-high five steals.
Lake Forest shot 44 percent from the field but made just four of 19 three-pointers and eight of 13 foul shots. Lawrence was held to 33 percent shooting from the floor and connected on eight of 23 attempts from beyond the arc and 16 of 22 free throws. The Vikings had a 38-33 edge in rebounds but committed 21 turnovers to the Foresters' 15.
The visitors' only lead of the contest was a 12-10 advantage they held for 40 seconds before a basket by Faulstick tied the score and started a 10-2 Forester run. Lake Forest led by as many as seven points in the opening period and 30-27 at halftime.
Lawrence tied the score on each of its first two possessions of the second half but a three-pointer by Lake Forest sophomore guard Jenna Rice started a 12-3 run that put the home team ahead by nine with less than 12 minutes to play. The Vikings scored the next seven points but fell behind by a game-high 10 points after a three-pointer by Ricolcol with 3:03 remaining. The visitors scored the next seven points and had the ball, trailing by three in the final 15 seconds. After missing a basket, Lawrence had to foul and Faulstick helped clinch the victory by making one of two free throws with just 4.5 seconds on the clock.
Lake Forest is now 12-10 overall and 10-7 in Midwest Conference play while the Vikings fell to 2-20 overall and 1-16 in the league. While the outcome in the game was good for the home team, results from elsewhere in the league eliminated the Foresters from qualifying for next weekend's four-team MWC Tournament.
Lake Forest will close out the 2012-13 season at Monmouth College Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
