The Lake Forest College women's basketball team hosted and defeated Carroll University 65-60 at home Wednesday night. Senior forward Gina Ambrose scored a game-high 15 points and added six rebounds for the Foresters.
Ambrose shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the contest and 6-for-6 in the final 40 seconds to help clinch the victory. Junior guard Danielle Canulli and senoir guard Sam Schuring also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Schuring was tied with sophomore forward Sam Cady with a team-high seven rebounds. Cady and fellow sophomore forward K.C. Stralka each dished out three assists.
Lake Forest shot 41.7 percent from the field, exactly 10 percent better than the Pioneers. The Foresters also had a 44-33 edge in rebounds, helping to make up for their 33 turnovers. Carroll committed 23 turnovers.
Carroll scored on a layup 10 seconds into the game and led for the next 15 minutes of play. The largest deficit faced by the Foresters was seven points with eight minutes left in the half, but a 9-2 run tied the game at 20 with 4:46 on the clock. Lake Forest took its first lead of the night on a basket by Stralka with three minutes to play and was ahead 30-26 at halftime.
The visitors scored the first seven points of the second half to regain the lead but a three-pointer by Ambrose and five points in a row by junior guard Abby Wiedman put the home team back on top 40-35 with 14:36 left in the game. The Lake Forest lead was four points at the halfway point of the period but a 9-2 run by the Foresters gave them a game-high 11 point advantage with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining. Carroll then rattled off 10 straight points over the next four minutes, cutting the lead to a single point. A basket by Schuring and two free throws by Stralka extended the lead to five points but Carroll trimmed it back to one, forcing the home team to call a timeout with 95 seconds to play. Junior guard Jenna Rice connected on a pair of foul shots with 1:26 left and Ambrose was 2-for-2 from the line three times down the stretch to secure the victory.
The Foresters are now 3-12 overall this season and 3-7 in Midwest Conference play. The Pioneers fell to 10-6 overall and 7-4 in the league.
Lake Forest will be back on the road on Saturday at Illinois College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.