The Lake Forest College women's basketball team earned its first victory of the young season Tuesday night, an 82-80 triumph over visiting Dominican University.
Senior guard Kelsey Burton shot 11-for-16 from the field and led the Foresters with a career-high 30 points. She also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and tied with sophomore guard Katie Neher for team-high honors with five assists. Burton moved past Lake Forest College Athletic Hall of Famers Anne Bennett (1989-93) and Priscilla Posick (1986-90) and into third place in program history with 1,131 career points. She also climbed into sixth place in team annals with 581 career rebounds.
The Foresters led 21-19 after the first quarter thanks in large part to junior forward Maggie Kersting's 13 points and four rebounds in the period. Her 18 points on the night were also a career-high.
The second stanza was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than four points until a layup by Burton with 1:15 remaining put the Foresters on top by six. A Dominican free throw on the next possession made the score 42-37 at the half.
A three-pointer by freshman guard Maurissa Edwards extended the home team's lead to seven points with 6:31 to play in the third period and another three-pointer by fellow freshman guard Liv Mlada a few minutes later made it an eight-point game. The Stars responded with an 11-0 run to pull ahead by three but the Foresters battled back and took a 58-57 lead into the final 10 minutes.
The lead changed hands six times in the fourth quarter, the last on a tie-breaking layup by Neher at the midpoint of the period. The margin eventually reached five points on a free throw by junior guard Maddie Glennon with 1:05 on the clock and she and Burton combined to shoot 7-for-12 from the line down the stretch to help secure the victory. The Stars managed to pull to within one with 5.3 ticks left but were unable to complete the comeback.
Lake Forest is now 1-2 and Dominican 2-2 on the season.
The Foresters will host Ripon College Saturday afternoon at 1:00.
