The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 78-61 at Monmouth College Monday evening, just two days after edging out the Fighting Scots 70-68. Sophomore guard Sam Schuring led the visitors with 23 points.
Schuring shot 9-for-16 from the field and also paced the Foresters with five assists and four steals.
With 16 points, sophomore guard Alex Messacar was the only other Lake Forest player to score in double figures. Sophomore forward Liz Radtke pulled down a team-high five rebounds and added three steals.
The Foresters shot 43.4 percent from the field but allowed the Scots to connect on 57.7 percent of their field goal attempts. Lake Forest had a 17-14 edge in turnovers but were out-rebounded 38-21.
Forester senior forward Tabytha Harvey made the game's first basket but Monmouth scored 17 of the next 19 points and never relinquished the lead. Lake Forest trailed by at least six points for the rest of the period and 38-30 at halftime.
The visitors pulled to within four points (51-47) with 10:30 to play in the contest but would get no closer. The Scots then used a 13-2 run to increase their lead to 15 (64-49). The Foresters, who scored 25 consecutive second half points Friday night at Beloit and 18 straight against Monmouth on Saturday, rattled off seven in a row Monday night but could not extend the run and complete the comeback. The home team scored the next seven point and made seven of eight free throws in the final few minutes to clinch the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 12-9 overall and 10-6 in Midwest Conference play, tied with Illinois College for third place in the league standings, a game ahead of Carroll University. Monmouth raised its overall record to 14-7 and MWC mark to 12-4.
The Foresters' next game, their fourth in six days, will be Wednesday evening at Knox College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 and a live video webcast will be available at www.pennatlantic.com.
