Junior guard Kelsey Burton finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals on Sunday in Lake Forest's 89-80 triumph over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The victory gave the Foresters a split at the Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Burton, who was named to the all-tournament team at the end of the day, shot 7-for-13 from the field and knocked down all but one of her 10 free throw attempts.
Sophomore guard Meona Feather was next on the team with 22 points while game-high honors went to Forester freshman center Katie Fagan with 11 rebounds and senior guard Zaria Sydnor with seven assists.
The Foresters had a slight advantage in shooting percentage, connecting on 44.4 percent of their attempts while the Falcons checked in at 40.8 percent. River Falls made nine three-pointers and Lake Forest eight while the Foresters had a 17-13 edge in free throws while out-rebounding their opponent 48-35.
Lake Forest shot 12-for-28 from the floor and scored 31 points in the opening period. Leading 31-20 after 10 minutes of play, the Foresters eventually extended the margin to 14 points late in the second and were ahead 48-37 at halftime.
The difference remained in double figures until the Falcons rattled off eight straight points to make it a 58-54 game with three minutes to play in the third quarter. Lake Forest led 62-56 at the end of the period and pulled ahead by 11 on a pair of free throws by Burton at the 7:53 mark of the fourth. River Falls closed back to within five less than a minute-and-a-half later but the Foresters scored 10 of the game's next 14 points before knocking down eight of 10 foul shots in the final minute to secure the victory.
Lake Forest improved to 3-4 on the season while River Falls fell to 4-3.
The Foresters will begin Midwest Conference play at St. Norbert College Wednesday night at 7:30.
