The Lake Forest College women's basketball team dropped a 78-76 decision to Ripon College at home Tuesday night, ending the Foresters' four-game winning streak.
Senior guard Katie Neher finished with a game-high 23 points and seven assists and added five rebounds and a pair of steals on the evening. She also shot 12-for-12 from the free throw line, setting a single-game program record for free throws made without a miss. Lake Forest posted the second-highest free throw percentage in school history, knocking down 28 of 29 (96.6%) attempts om the contest.
Senior forward Annie Lally shot 9-for-12 from the field and was next on the team with 20 points. She has made 21 of 28 field goal attempts in the last two games she will play in the Sports and Recreation Center. Tuesday night's contest was also the last career home game for a third senior, forward Brooke Johnson.
Like Neher, junior guard Maurissa Edwards filled up the stat sheet. She shot 8-for-8 from the line, scored 19 points, grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, and dished out six assists.
Lake Forest shot 50 percent on the night, which was just slightly better than the Red Hawks' 48.4 percent. The home team also had a 33-24 edge in rebounds but committed 25 turnovers to Ripon's 16.
It was an exciting game throughout. Both teams led by as many as eight points — the Foresters in the second quarter and Ripon in the third — and both were ahead for at least 15 minutes. The score was tied 14 times and the lead changed hands 13 times. Both squads scored 18 points in the opening period and Lake Forest was ahead 36-34 at halftime. Ripon had the advantage in the third and took a 59-58 lead into the final period.
Neither team by more than three points in a back-and-forth final 10 minutes that included seven ties and eight lead changes. A basket by Neher broke a tie with 2:23 left and, after the Red Hawks tied the score, junior guard Melissa Gomez knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:53 left. The visitors answered again, but so did Neher with her last two free throws of the night with 54.7 seconds remaining. Ripon tied the game again with 45.9 seconds left and, after forcing a turnover, scored the final two points of the game with just 2.1 seconds on the clock.
The loss dropped the Foresters' overall record to 9-14 and Midwest Conference mark to 5-10. Ripon improved to 18-6 overall and remained in contention for a share of the conference title with a 14-1 record in the league.
Lake Forest will close out the season at Grinnell College Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
