The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated in a back-and-forth battle at Monmouth College on Saturday. Forester senior forward Gina Ambrose made six three-pointers and scored 18 of her team-high 22 points in the second half.
Ambrose is the first Forester to connect six times from beyond the arc in a game since current junior guard Abby Wiedman accomplished the feat in February of 2012. She was 6-for-10 on three-pointers and 8-for-15 from the field overall on the evening.
Sophomore forward Sam Cady was next on the team with 15 points and she led the visitors with eight rebounds. Senior guard Sam Schuring had nine points and continues to lead the league in assists and steals after finishing the game with seven and four, respectively.
Monmouth shot 47 percent from the floor while the Foresters connected on just 38 percent of field goal attempts. Lake Forest, however, outscored the Fighting Scots 24-6 on three-pointers. The home team went to the fre throw line 32 times but made just 18 while Lake Forest shot 11-for-14. Monmouth had a 46-39 edge in rebounds.
Lake Forest led by as many as five points and Monmouth by seven in an opening period that included six ties and eight lead changes. The Fighting Scots took a 35-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Scots extended their lead to 10 points twice early in the second half. Five straight points by Cady cut the deficit in half and a trio of three-pointers by Ambrose helped the Foresters tie the game at 50 with 12:53 to play. The score remained 50-50 for nearly two minutes before a layup by Cady, a basket by Schuring, and another layup by Cady gave the visitors a 56-50 advantage with 9:58 left. A 10-3 run by Monmouth put the home team back on top but another three-pointer by Ambrose made the score 62-60 in favor of the Foresters with 5:51 remaining. The Scots scored six straight points to take back the lead for good. A Schuring three-pointer pulled Lake Forest to within one and a basket by Wiedman made it a two-point game (69-67) with two minutes left. Monmouth scored the next eight points to pull away and secure the victory.
The loss drops the Foresters overall record to 2-13 and the Midwest Conference mark to 2-7. Monmouth is now 11-3 overall and 7-2 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Carroll University Wednesday night at 7:30.
