The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 91-74 at Illinois College on Saturday, thanks in large part to a 15-0 fourth quarter run by the home team.
The Foresters led by as many as seven points in the opening quarter and by three at 23-20 when it ended. The visitors increased their advantage to seven again in the second but were outscored 13-5 in the final five minutes and trailed 39-38 at halftime.
A basket by junior guard Katie Neher to start the third quarter put the Foresters back on top but they never led again. The score was tied a couple of times in the period and Lake Forest was within just two points after a Neher field goal made the score 72-70 with seven minutes to play in the contest. The Lady Blues, however, rattled off 15 consecutive points over the next five minutes and finished off the 17-point victory.
Neher shot 8-for-15 from the field, led Lake Forest with 21 points, and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Senior forward Kara Schoenlein, freshman guard Peyton Davidson, and sophomore guard Annie Pulaski established new career-highs with 16, 13, and 12 points, respectively. Schoenlein shot 7-for-11 from the field and added a career-high five steals. Davidson matched Neher's seven rebounds and added four assists while sophomore guard Maurissa Edwards led the Foresters in the latter category with six.
Lake Forest matched a season-high with nine three-pointers and shot 42.6 percent from the field in the game. The Lady Blues were slightly more accurate, connecting on 44 percent of their field goal attempts, and had a commanding 54-29 edge in rebounds.
The Foresters are now 7-14 overall this season and 4-9 in Midwest Conference play. Illinois College improved to 7-9 overall and 6-5 in the league.
Lake Forest will begin the final week of the season at Ripon College Tuesday night at 7:30.