The Lake Forest women's basketball team held a halftime lead against unbeaten Lawrence University on Saturday, but couldn't hold on for the conference win, falling 73-58.
 
Sophomore Emma Hart led the way offensively for Lake Forest (2-6, 0-1 MWC) for the second consecutive game. After scoring a then-career high 15 points in her last game on Wednesday against North Park University, Hart raised the bar again by scoring 17 points on Saturday. Hart also added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Forward Rylie Crecelius had 11 points, and guard Ariana Ferreira-Torralba added 10 points and three steals in a game-high 39 minutes.
 
Lake Forest shot 30.9 percent from the field, including 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from the three-point line. Despite the Foresters making 8-of-9 free throws, Lake Forest was outscored by 17 points at the free-throw line for the game, as Lawrence (7-0, 2-0 MWC) knocked down 25-of-27 attempts.
 
The Foresters brought their defense on the road, holding Lawrence to just 32.3 percent shooting – marking the Vikings' worst shooting performance of the season. Both teams were held scoreless for more than three minutes to start the game.
 
Lake Forest used balanced scoring to ignite a 10-0 run in the first quarter to jump out to a 10-4 lead; four different Foresters scored in the span to seize the early advantage.
 
Carrying a 35-33 lead into the halftime break, the third quarter doomed the Foresters' upset efforts. Lake Forest was outscored 21-11 in the third quarter and shot just 4-of-15 for the period (26.7 percent), including making just 1-of-8 from the three-point line.
 
In the final quarter, Lake Forest would trim the Lawrence lead to just 62-56 with 4:08 remaining, after Hart knocked down her third three-pointer of the game. From that point, however, the Vikings finished the game on an 11-2 run, as the Foresters made just one of their final seven shots from the field.
 
The Foresters will have the next week off as players finish their final exams for the fall semester, but the team will be back in action on Dec. 19 against Ripon College. That game will tip off at 3:00 p.m. in Ripon, Wis.