The Monmouth College women’s basketball team fell to Illinois College 51-46 at home on Tuesday night. The Fighting Scots (9-12, 5-7) are now a game behind the Lady Blues in the Midwest Conference standings with four games left to play.
Neither team scored for the first four minutes of the game until Tarae Warner (Burlington, Iowa) hit a 3-pointer. Zoie Wall (Bartonville, Illinois) and Lily Harlan (Washington, Illinois) followed with basksters for a 7-0 lead. Audrey Law (Bloomington, Indiana) hit a 3-pointer and IC called timeout down 10. With 2:04 to play in the quarter, IC got their first points and finished the quarter on a 5-0 run.
Ella Goodrich (Minonk, Illinois) scored the first points of the second quarter for Monmouth and Warner hit a 3-pointer for a 15-9 lead. IC scored the next five before Harlan got a basket at the rim for a 17-14 lead. IC took their first lead of the game at 18-17 before Warner hit a 3-pointer to put the Scots back on top. The visitors tied the game with free throws and after a Monmouth turnover the game was tied 20-20 at half.
The Lady Blues scored first in the second half but Harlan answered. With the game tied at 24, IC hit back-to-back 3-pointers for their largest lead of the night. After a Monmouth timeout, the Lady Blues hit another 3-pointer and the Scots went cold. Harlan got Monmouth back on the board with a layup in the final 90 seconds of the quarter. Down nine, Warner hit a 3-pointer and the Scots got a stop to go into the final quarter down 35-29.
The Lady Blues scored first in the final quarter and Harlan made a pair of free throws. Down 41-31, Harlan scored in the lane and Monmouth forced a turnover. With less than five minutes to play, Warner hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game to cut the IC lead to 41-36. Allie Hoy (Woodland, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with just over two minutes to play to get the Scots within two. Law was fouled and split free throws with 1:53 to play for a 41-40 IC lead. The 9-0 run ended with a 3-pointer by IC and Monmouth turned the ball over with 1:16 to play. The visitors scored for a 46-40 lead and Monmouth scored in the lane after missing a pair of 3-pointers. The Lady Blues made two free throws with 23.7 seconds left for a 48-42 lead. Law scored again but the Lady Blues knocked down two free throws with 11.4 seconds to play. The Scots missed a 3-pointer and Harlan made two free throws as IC won 51-46.
Harlan led the Scots with 16 points while Warner had 15 on five made 3-pointers and Law scored eight points. Warner had 13 rebounds and Wall led the team with four assists.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: IC sweeps Monmouth after the Scots swept IC last year. Monmouth is 7-3 in their last 10 against IC. Harlan has gone for 10 points or more in eight of the last nine games. Warner made a career-high five 3-pointers. She also had her second double-double in the last 10 days. The Scots will host Grinnell College at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a pregame Senior Day celebration.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
