The Lake Forest women's basketball team played a strong first half Wednesday night, but could not hold onto its halftime lead and ultimately fell to Beloit College, 56-49.
 
Senior Jamie Springstead scored 11 points and hauled in nine rebounds to go with three steals. Junior Anika Kinnear contributed eight points and nine rebounds, and freshman Meghan Vasel set a new career high with eight points.
 
The Foresters (2-19, 0-12 MWC) shot 29.8 percent from the field on the road. Lake Forest primarily operated inside the three-point arc, making 3-of-8 attempts (37.5 percent); Wednesday marked a new season low for three-point attempts in a game this season for the Foresters.
 
Lake Forest owned the backboards, 41-32, and held the advantage on the offensive glass as well, 11-6. Turnovers proved to be a critical factor in the game, as 21 Forester giveaways turned into 23 Beloit points off turnovers.
 
After a stellar defensive performance in their last game against Cornell College, the Foresters were locked in defensively again Wednesday night.
 
Beloit shot just 23.3 percent in the first half and made just 1-of-12 attempts from three-point range before halftime, as the Foresters went into the halftime intermission holding onto a three-point lead, 26-23.
 
In the third quarter, Lake Forest would take its largest lead of the second half at 37-30 on a Sara Mills bucket off an offensive rebound, but the hosts would respond. Beloit mounted a 12-2 spurt of their own to end the period, including a pair of made free throws with under a second left in the quarter, to go into the fourth with a 42-39 lead.
 
The Foresters battled back in the final frame to give themselves a chance to pull out the road victory. Lake Forest cut the deficit to 51-49 on a pair of Mills free throws with 3:42 left, but three straight Lake Forest shot attempts that would have tied the game would not go down.
 
Lake Forest will play take on an in-state rival for its next game Saturday. The Foresters will hit the road to take on the Lady Blues of Illinois College, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.