The Forester women's basketball team was edged out 78-75 at Grinnell College Saturday in the final game of the 2022-23 season.
Lake Forest senior guard Katie Neher led all players in the contest with 29 points and she became just the ninth player in program history to surpass 1,000 points in her career. She finished this season with 501 points, the third-most in team annals, and her career with 1,010. Neher was 9-for-9 from the foul line on Saturday and made each of the final 27 free throw attempts of her career.
While Neher's 101 made free throws this season are the seventh-highest total in school history, the number two spot on the list belongs to junior guard Maurissa Edwards, who was 6-for-8 at Grinnell and finished 137-for-163 on the year for a free throw percentage of 84 percent. Edwards nearly recorded a triple double on Saturday, scoring 15 points, grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds, and dishing out eight assists. Her 96 assists on the season rank sixth in program history while her 72 steals are tied-for-fourth.
Senior forward Annie Lally shot 8-for-15 from the field and poured in 21 points at Grinnell. She finished her career ranked fourth in team history in field goal percentage at 53.1 percent.
The teams' statistical totals were nearly identical. Lake Forest shot 37.3 percent and Grinnell 38 percent from the field. The Foresters made seven three-pointers to the Pioneers' six and both squads connected 18 times from the free throw line. Grinnell finished with a slight 48-45 edge in rebounds and committed just 10 turnovers to the visitors' 14.
The Foresters faced a 37-31 deficit at halftime but scored 32 points in the next 10 minutes, the third-highest total in a quarter in team history, and led by seven going into the fourth. Grinnell battled back and took the lead for good on a basket with two minutes remaining. Lake Forest trailed by four before a traditional three-point play by Edwards with 22.8 seconds left and she pulled her team back to within one again with 7.2 seconds on the clock. A pair of Pioneer free throws with 6.8 second to play were the final points of the contest.
Lake Forest finished the season 9-15 overall and 5-11 in the Midwest Conference. Grinnell posted an overall record of 10-13 and a league mark of 7-9.