Sophomore forward Maggie Kersting scored a career-high 12 points off the bench but Lake Forest was defeated 81-77 by visiting Monmouth College Wednesday night in the Foresters' final game of the fall semester.
Kersting was 5-for-10 from the field and added four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots on the night. Sophomore guard Meona Feather led the home team with 15 points while junior guard Kelsey Burton added 13 to go with a game-high eight rebounds.
Lake Forest shot 49.2 percent overall and matched the fifth-highest three-point field goal percentage in program history by knocking down eight of 15 attempts from beyond the arc. The Foresters out-rebounded their guests 37-25 but committed 19 turnovers and were outscored 27-11 from the foul line.
The Foresters led for most of the first quarter and were ahead 19-15 after 10 minutes of play. They also maintained the lead throughout the second period but were unable to pull away and the advantage was down to a single point at 36-35 at halftime.
Monmouth started the second half with a three-pointer for the first of four lead changes in the third quarter. A Kersting layup began a 10-0 Forester run late the in the period and the home team led 61-54 when the buzzer sounded. The Lake Forest lead was six points with less than four minutes remaining but the Scots accounted for the game's next six points to tie the score at 73 with 2:10 to play. A jumper by Feather put the Foresters back on top and a pair of free throws by junior Delaney Sjong with 1:02 left gave Lake Forest the lead again at 77-76. The visitors pulled back ahead on a basket with 54.5 seconds on the clock and held the home team scoreless the rest of the way for the victory.
The Foresters fell to 4-5 overall while Monmouth improved to 5-2. Both teams are now 1-1 in Midwest Conference play.
Lake Forest will not play again until January 3-4 when the team travels to Iowa for league games at Grinnell College and Cornell College.