Sophomore guard Bridget Bilek scored a career-high 18 points to help lead the Lake Forest College women's basketball team to a 66-54 victory over Beloit College at home Tuesday night.
Bilek, who had 15 points in the Foresters' first two games combined, shot 8-for-15 from the field, knocked down a pair of three-pointers in five attempts, and added five rebounds in the contest. Her eight points in the third quarter alone matched the Buccaneers' scoring output in the period.
Beloit had used an 11-0 run to take a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Buccaneers out-rebounded the home team 12-7 and the Foresters shot just 3-for-17 in the period.
Lake Forest scored 14 of the first 15 points in the second quarter to pull ahead by three. Beloit, however, regained the lead and was ahead 28-26 at halftime.
A Bilek three-pointer early in the second half broke a 30-30 tie and gave the Foresters the lead for good. The margin was as large as five points in the quarter, which ended with the home team clinging to a 40-36 advantage.
The Buccaneers cut the lead to one with nine minutes remaining but a 15-2 Lake Forest run over the next five minutes extended it to a game-high 14 points. The difference remained in double figures the rest of the way.
Freshman guard Zaria Sydnor and junior guard Kelsey Schmitt finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, and Sydnor led the Foresters with three assists and four steals in 23 minutes of playing time off the bench. Senior guard/forward Tara Gloystein grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and scored eight points on the evening.
Lake Forest shot nearly 65 percent from the floor in the final period and 42.9 percent for the game. Beloit started hot, connecting on 58 percent of field goal attempts in the opening quarter but finished the contest at 43.8 percent. The Buccaneers had a slight 37-33 edge in rebounds but committed 24 turnovers to the Foresters, 11.
It was the first Midwest Conference game of the year for Lake Forest and Beloit and both teams are now 1-2 overall this season.
The Foresters'next contest will be a non-conference game at Illinois Institute of Technology next Monday night at 7:00.