Senior guard Rebecca Christodoulou filled up the box score with a season-high 30 points, but it was not enough as the Lake Forest women's basketball team dropped a 73-61 contest to Grinnell College on Saturday at the Sports & Recreation Center.
 
Christodoulou shot an efficient 13-of-24 from the field and buried 4-of-10 attempts from the three-point line. In addition to her scoring, the Cyprus native added six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Lake Forest (2-9, 1-2 MWC). Saturday's scoring effort was just one point off Christodoulou's Lake Forest career high of 31 points, set last year against Knox College.
 
Sophomore Careah Baitlon hit a trio of three-pointers to account for her nine points, and sophomore Mia deGrasse added eight points on a tidy 3-of-6 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start shooting the ball in the opening quarter. Lake Forest shot just 20 percent from the field in the first quarter, making only 1-of-6 three-pointers and converted 1-of-4 free throws.
 
While Grinnell was not much more efficient shooting, the Pioneers shot just 26.3 percent from the field in the first, they were able to jump out to an early 16-8 lead at the end of the quarter. Most of the damage came on a 12-0 Grinnell run, and Lake Forest scored just a single point in the final 6:30 of the first quarter.
 
Lake Forest would continue its suffocating defense in the second quarter as well, holding Grinnell to 28.6 percent shooting in the frame, enabling the Foresters to mount a 12-0 run of their own in the second quarter to close the deficit.
 
Christodoulou utilized some nifty ball handling to get to the rim for a layup, then hit a contested three-pointer off a feed from bench spark plug Peyton Noles. The senior center then hit a baseline jumper of her own to cut the Grinnell advantage to 29-25 just before halftime.
 
Noles contributed four points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in the first half while being matched up with the Midwest Conference leader in blocks, Grinnell's Sara Booher. Noles finished the game with six points, a team-high seven rebounds, and three assists, and was a +14 in her 19 minutes on the floor.
 
The Foresters could not come up with enough defensive stops in the second half, as Grinnell shot 57 percent from the field after halftime and hit 5-of-9 from the three-point line.
 
The Foresters will return to action Wednesday for another Midwest Conference game on the road against Knox College at 5:30 p.m.