Monmouth led for all but the first four minutes of a 67-55 win over Illinois College Wednesday night at Glennie Gym to stay tied for the top spot in the Midwest Conference.
Becca Galllis’ bucket followed by Shayne Smith’s 3-pointer gave Monmouth the only cushion they would need in the first quarter as the Scots jumped out to a 19-10 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Lady Blues narrowed the gap just before the half with a 3-pointer to trail 29-23. Allie Meyers pumped in two of her 10 points to open Monmouth’s scoring in the second half as the Scots built the lead to 17 at 49-32 on a Yvonne Ornelas three with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
IC had one last run left, cutting the Monmouth lead to five at 53-48 with 5:37 left in the game after taking advantage of a 7-2 run to open the final frame. Back-to-back buckets by Smith on her way to a 16-point night restarted the Scots who went 7-of-8 from the line in the final minute to hold off the Lady Blues.
Gallis finished with a team-high 18 points, sinking four of her six 3-pointer attempts. Kaitlyn Oslmulski joined Gallis, Smith and Meyers in double figures with 10.
The win kept the Scots tied with Ripon for first in the MWC at 8-1. Monmouth travels to Lake Forest Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest with the Foresters. Lake Forest is a game behind Monmouth and Ripon after dropping a 70-56 decision Wednesday night to St. Norbert.
For the fourth straight game, Monmouth held the opposition under 65 points in a 73-61 win over Illinois College Wednesday night in Glennie Gym to move into a tie for fifth in the Midwest Conference, just one spot out of a conference tournament berth.
Trailing 32-30 at the intermission, the Scots shot 13-of-19 from the floor in the second half, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range to move up the league ladder. Trey Swearingen came off the bench to give Monmouth the lead at 37-34 with a 3-pointer at the 16:39 left in the game. A pair of Will Carius free throws three minutes later pushed the Scots’ lead to 47-41 before the Blueboys regained the lead with a 9-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer. Monmouth took the lead for good on another Carius free throw and Justin Batterton’s layup with 8:58 to play that made it 53-50 Monmouth. The Scots stretched the lead to double digits on Jonathan Oradiegwu’s jumper in the paint for a 63-53 lead at the 3:17 mark. A pair of D.J. Swift free throws iced the game with 38 seconds left as Monmouth improved to 4-1 in January.
Carius led all scorers with 27 points, Swift added 15 and Oradiegwu, who pulled down nine rebounds, added 10 points.
Monmouth plays at Lake Forest Saturday in a 5 p.m. tipoff.
