Behind a 38-point final period, the Lake Forest College women's basketball team posted an 84-75 victory at Monmouth College Wednesday night.
Monmouth led by a dozen points early in the fourth quarter before back-to-back three-pointers by Forester sophomore guard Maurissa Edwards and junior guard Katie Neher cut the margin in half. Lake Forest trailed by six again at 63-57 but outscored the Fighting Scots 16-1 in a three-minute span to take a nine-point lead. Edwards scored half of the visitors' points during the run and 19 in the period. The difference grew to a game-high 14 points (80-66) after a pair of her free throws with 1:43 on the clock and the Foresters were 4-for-6 from the line down the stretch to close out the victory.
The fourth quarter was Lake Forest's highest-scoring period since NCAA women's basketball switched from two halves to four quarters prior to the 2015-16 season. The Foresters' 60 points in the third and fourth combined were the most in a half since December of 2013 and matched the third-highest mark in program history.
Edwards led Lake Forest with a career-high 29 points while junior forward Annie Lally finished with 24 and Neher with 19. They combined for 72 of the squad's 84 points on the night. Neher also led all players with a career-high 10 rebounds for her first double-double as a Forester.
Senior guard Maddie Glennon also set one career-high with six assists and matched another with four steals to help the visitors' cause.
Edwards was 11-for-12 and Lally 7-for-7 from the foul line and Lake Forest finished the night 22-for-25 on free throws. Monmouth was nearly as impressive from the charity stripe, connecting on 20 of 24 attempts. The Foresters shot a season-high 53.8 percent from the field and 6-for-11 from three-point range. The Scots were limited to just 33.8 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers in 33 tries.
Lake Forest improved to 5-10 overall and 3-6 in Midwest Conference play this year. Monmouth fell to 8-4 overall and suffered it first league loss of 2021-22 after starting 5-0 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Lawrence University on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. contest. No visiting fans are allowed to attend the game.