Sophomore forward Hannah Hiland's first career double-double was not quite enough as the Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 63-56 by visiting Knox College on Saturday.
Hiland tied for the team lead with 12 points and led all players in the contest with a career-high 12 rebounds. She also added two assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. Sophomore guard Bridget Bilek matched Hiland's 12 points and sophomore guard Hannah O'Day finished with nine points and nine boards. Junior guard Kelsey Schmitt dished out a game-high five assists.
Lake Forest shot 34.4 percent from the field while the Prairie Fire connected on exactly 40 percent of their field goal attempts. Both teams tried 22 times from three points range with the Foresters making eight and the visitors six. Knox outscored the home team 17-4 from the foul line while Lake Forest had a 46-36 edge in rebounds.
The game got off to a slow start with Knox leading 5-2 after seven minutes of play. The visitors' lead was three again at 11-8 when the buzzer sounded.
The margin grew to as many as seven points in the second quarter before a free throw by Bilek and a three-pointer by Hiland made it a three-point game again (27-24) at halftime.
A 9-3 Knox run to open the second half extended the lead to a game-high nine points but the Foresters outscored their guests 13-4 over the next six minutes to tied the score at 40. A Prairie Fire free throw made it a 41-40 game with 10 minutes remaining.
A layup by senior forward Brie Majkowski to open the fourth quarter gave the home team its first lead since the score was 2-0. Lake Forest went ahead by four points twice in the period, the last at 54-50 with five-and-a-half minutes to play. The Prairie Fire scored the next seven points, however, and connected on four straight free throws in the final 15 seconds to clinch the victory.
The Foresters fell to 3-10 overall and 2-6 in Midwest Conference play this season. Knox improved to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the league.
Lake Forest will be on the road in its next game, a 5:30 p.m. contest at Lawrence University on Wednesday.