Sophomore forward Hannah Hiland and guard Bridget Bilek combined for 45 points but the Lake Forest College women's basketball team fell 64-63 to Illinois College at home Wednesday night.
Hiland shot 8-for-15 from the field, knocked down four three-pointers in nine attempts, and finished with 25 points, the most by a Forester this season. Bilek posted her third 20-point game of the year while adding five rebounds and three assists.
Lake Forest junior guard Kara Norvet matched one career high with five assists and set another with five steals.
The Foresters shot 20-for-60 from the field, 7-for-20 on three-pointers, and 16-for-26 from the free throw line. The Lady Blues connected on 37.5 percent of their field goal attempts and out-rebounding the home team 49-36. Lake Forest had the edge in turnovers, committing 18 while forcing 27.
A 9-0 Illinois College run in the opening period put the visitors up by 10 points and the margin was eight at 20-12 when the period ended. A three-pointer by Hiland to start the second made it a five-point game but the Foresters would get no closer in the half. The Lady Blues responded with a 12-3 run to extend their lead to a game-high 14 points but Lake Forest scored the final eight points of the half and trailed by just six (32-26) at the break.
The lead fluctuated between four and 10 points until the Foresters closed to within one on a jumper by Hiland with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. After a pair of Lady Blue free throws, Bilek made a jumper with 14 seconds left to made the score 49-48 in favor of the visitors with 10 minutes to play.
Illinois College scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter but the Foresters recorded a seven-point run of the their own, leaving the teams separated by a single point again with 4:40 remaining. After each team made another basket, Lake Forest got a stop on defense and Bilek nailed a three-pointerto give the home team its first lead of the game with three minutes on the clock. A Hiland jumper with 2:17 remaining extended the Forester lead to four but the Lady Blues scored six of the game's final seven points, the last two on a layup with 17.5 seconds on the clock, to pull out the victory.
The loss leaves Lake Forest with a 5-11 overall record and a 4-7 mark in Midwest Conference play. Illinois College improved to 10-6 overall and 7-4 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Knox College on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.