Senior guard Zaria Sydnor and freshman center Katie Fagan led the Foresters in scoring in the team's 60-47 loss at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Saturday in their first game at the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic.
Sydnor finished with 11 points and Fagan 10. Fagan also grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest for her first career double-double.
Forester junior guard Kelsey Burton also pulled down 10 boards but La Crosse had a 43-42 edge in that category. The teams combined to shoot just 29.7 percent from the field and the Eagles outscored Lake Forest 27-15 on three-pointers and 13-10 from the free throw line. The visitors accounted for 28 of the game's 53 turnovers.
Lake Forest led by as many as four points in the opening period and by three at 13-10 when it ended. The Eagles outscored the Foresters 19-7 in the second quarter and took a 29-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
After the home team extended its lead to 10 points early in the third quarter, a 7-0 Forester run made it a three-point game and a pair of free throws by Burton with 4:18 to play in the period trimmed the margin to just two points. Lake Forest got no closer, however, as La Crosse pulled away to a 46-38 lead at the end of the quarter and outscored the Foresters 14-9 in the final 10 minutes.
The loss dropped Lake Forest's record on the season to 2-4 while La Crosse, the 17th-ranked team in the country, improved to 7-1.
The event will continue on Sunday with Lake Forest taking on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at 1:00 p.m.