Senior guard Kelsey Schmitt scored a team-high 17 points in her final game as the Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 66-55 by Cornell College in the final of the 2018 Midwest Conference Tournament.
Schmitt made half of her 12 field goal attempts, including three of five from beyond the arc, and both of her foul shots on the afternoon.
Freshman guard Kelsey Burton and junior forward Hannah Hiland were next on the squad with eight points apiece and Burton added a team-high 10 rebounds.
Neither team shot particularly well from the field, the Foresters 34.5 percent and the Rams 37.1. Lake Forest knocked down seven three-pointer's to Cornell's two but was outscored 18-8 from the foul line and out-rebounded 41-38. The Foresters also committed 18 turnovers while forcing just 12.
Lake Forest led by as many as six points in the opening period and 12-4 when it ended. Cornell outscored the Foresters 19-13 in the second to take a 27-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Rams scored 19 of the first 24 points of the third quarter to pull ahead by 16. Three straight baskets by the Foresters trimmed the deficit to 10 but it was back up to 14 at 50-36 with the quarter ended. A three-pointer by Schmitt, a layup by senior forward Kara Norvet, and a three-pointer by Burton in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter quickly trimmed the deficit to six points. Another three-pointer from Schmitt a minute later made it a six-point game again but the Foresters would get no closer. Cornell made six of eight free throws in the final two minutes of the game to secure the victory and the Midwest Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Saturday's appearance in the MWC Tournament final was the first in a decade for Lake Forest, which finished the season at 13-14. Cornell improved to 20-5.
Schmitt, Norvet, and forward Brenna Knoch are the only players the team will lose to graduation in May.
