Lake Forest senior guard Kelsey Schmitt led all players with 15 points Tuesday night in her final career home game, a 68-58 loss to St. Norbert College.
Schmitt and classmates Kara Norvet and Brenna Knoch were honored before the game and all three appeared in the starting lineup. Schmitt shot 7-for-11 from the field in the contest and made her only attempt from three-point range. Norvet dished out a game-high seven assists and Knoch grabbed a career-high four rebounds.
The Foresters shot just 36.5 percent from the field but connected on eight of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. They have now made 121 three-pointers on the season, the sixth-highest total in program history.
St. Norbert was more efficient than the home team on Tuesday, shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, 5-for-10 on three-pointers, and 11-for-12 from the foul line. The Green Knights also had a 43-34 edge in rebounds.
The visitors scored the first seven points of the night but Lake Forest quickly came back and tied the score at nine. St. Norbert pulled back ahead by seven but that lead was also erased by the Foresters early in the second quarter. A 16-6 Green Knight run later in the second put the Foresters in a 10-point hole and this time they were never able to completely dig out of it. The teams went into the locker room at halftime separated by seven points at 38-31.
Lake Forest closed to within four twice in the third quarter but the margin grew to 11 later in the period. Trailing 50-41 with 10 minutes to play, the Foresters battled back again in the final quarter and closed to within two at 58-56 on a three-pointer by Schmitt with 2:24 to play. St. Norbert scored the next four points and, after another basket by Schmitt with a minute left, closed out the game with six straight points, including four on free throws in the final 30 seconds.
The loss, which does not count toward the Foresters' Midwest Conference record, dropped their overall mark on the season to 11-13 while the Green Knights improved to 9-5.
Elsewhere in the league Illinois College was defeated at Monmouth College, clinching a spot for Lake Forest in the four-team MWC Tournament. It will be the Foresters' first trip to the conference tourney since 2012.
Lake Forest will close out the regular season at Lawrence University Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
