The Lake Forest College women's basketball team was defeated 77-74 by visiting Illinois College on Saturday in the Foresters' first game since December 20.
Lake Forest's Annie Lally shot 10-for-18 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range while scoring a game-high 25 points. The junior forward also grabbed eight rebounds.
Junior guard Katie Neher was the only other Forester in double figures with 18 points. Senior forward Delaney Sjong and sophomore forward Brooke Johnson added nine points apiece and Sjong led all players in the contest with nine rebounds.
Both teams shot approximately 41 percent from the field and Lake Forest knocked down seven three-pointers to the Lady Blues' four. The visitors had a significant edge at the foul line, connecting on 21-28 attempts while the Foresters were just 11-for-15. The home team out-rebounded Illinois College 42-38 but committed 26 of the game's 45 turnovers.
Lake Forest led 10-5 after the first quarter but the Lady Blues started the second with nine straight points. The lead changed hands 10 times in the period, which ended with the Foresters ahead 31-29 following a steal and layup by Neher in the final seconds.
A 7-0 run in the middle of the third quarter put Illinois College on top and the visitors' lead was eight points at 54-46 with a period to play.
The Foresters battled back in the fourth. A layup by senior guard Ely DoBrodt with 3:45 remaining gave them the lead and fellow senior guard Maddie Glennon's layup with 2:10 to play made the score 65-63 in favor of the home team. After the Lady Blues regained the lead with a layup and a pair of free throws, Johnson snatched it back at the 1:17 mark with her third three-pointer of the game. It was the Foresters' final lead of the game, however, as Illinois College shot 8-for-12 in the final 50 seconds to earn the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in Midwest Conference play this season while the Blues raised their overall record to 4-7 and evened their league mark at 3-3.
The Foresters will host Ripon College next Tuesday night at 7:30.