In a game during which the teams were separated by no more than five points throughout the second half, the Lake Forest College women's basketball team pulled out a 61-58 victory over visiting Beloit College on Saturday.
The season-ending win was the 300th career victory for Lake Forest Head Coach
Tamlyn Tills.
It was also Senior Day for the Foresters and guards
Maurissa Edwards and
Melissa Gomez were honored before their final game. They went on to lead the team with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Edwards was 7-for-8 from the free throw line and finished her career with 268 made foul shots, the fourth highest total in team history. She also recorded a steal on Saturday to raise her career total to 174, the program's sixth-highest mark.
Joining Edwards and Gomez in double figures were junior guard
Rebecca Christodoulou and freshman guard
Careah Baitlon with 10 points apiece.
Sophomore guard
Taylor Major led the Foresters with a dozen rebounds and they had a 45-37 edge in that category as a team. Lake Forest also had the more efficient offense, connecting on 43.1 percent of field goal attempts while limiting the Buccaneers to just 32.8 percent.
The game's final lead of more than five points was Beloit's 28-21 edge, which was trimmed to five by a pair of Edwards free throws with 4:18 to play in the first half. That margin shrunk to one at 33-32 by the end of the period.
The lead changed hands five times in the third quarter, the last on a layup by Edwards in the closing seconds. After Beloit pulled ahead on a three-pointer, six straight points by the Forester gave them the lead for good. The visitors pulled to within a point at 55-54 and again at 59-58 with 46 seconds left. The Buccaneers got another stop and had a chance to take the lead but missed a pair of shot in the paint and two free throw attempts on their next possession. They were forced to foul as time was running out and Baitlon made both of hers with 4.5 seconds remaining to help second the victory.
Lake Forest completed the season with a 7-18 overall record and 5-11 mark in Midwest Conference play. Beloit finished 11-14 overall and 8-8 in the league.
