The Lake Forest College women's basketball team posted an 80-66 victory over Monmouth College at home Wednesday evening.
Forester senior guard Katie Neher led all players in the contest and matched her career-high with 37 points. She also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Neher was extremely efficient on offense, shooting 12-for-16 from the field, connecting on three of five attempts from three-point range, and knocking down 10 of 11 free throws. She became the first player in program history to score 37 or more points in a game twice and the first with three scoring outputs of at least 33 points.
Junior guard Maurissa Edwards was next on the team with 14 points and she added six steals. Senior forward Annie Lally also reached double figures with a dozen points while pulling down seven rebounds and matching Neher for game-high honors with five assists.
Lake Forest shot 51.8 percent from the field, made 18 of 21 attempts from the foul line, and out-rebounded the Fighting Scots 37-33. The home team also forced four more turnovers (22) than they committed (18).
The Foresters never trailed in the contest. They were ahead 16-14 after the first quarter and by as many as 13 points in the second. Monmouth closed the half with seven straight points, however, making the score 31-25 at the break.
The visitors closed to within three points in the third quarter but the margin was back up to seven at 51-44 when the period ended. Neher scored 10 points during a game-clinching 18-5 run to start the fourth quarter. She made all six of her field goal attempts, including three from beyond the arc, and scored 16 points in the period.
The victory raised the Foresters' overall record on the season to 5-12 and Midwest Conference mark to 2-8. Monmouth fell to 9-10 overall and 5-5 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Lawrence UNiversity Saturday afternoon at 1:00.