Green Knights Fall to Foresters

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, December 5, 2018 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - A strong opening quarter wasn't enough as St. Norbert College suffered through cold shooting in the middle two quarters in a 78-68 loss to Lake Forest College in a Midwest Conference game at LFC Sports Center.

St. Norbert shot 10 of 20 from the floor in the first quarter to score 23 points, but scored just 24 points in the next 20 minutes. The Green Knights were 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) from the floor in both the second and third quarters.

The Green Knights held a trio of six-point leads in the first quarter, the last coming when Hannah Gibbons converted a conventional three-point play for an 18-12 lead with 4:03 left in the period. Lake Forest answered with a 6-0 run before Sarah Ratajczyk scored for St. Norbert. The Foresters' Zaria Sydnor scored to tie the score 20-20 with 2:01 left, but Olivia DeCleene canned a 3-pointer at the 1:12 mark. Hannah O'Day hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter to bring Lake Forest even at 23-23 at the end of the period.

The game was tied for the ninth time at 31-31 with 6:08 left in the second quarter. Sarah Neumann's hoop put St. Norbert up 33-31 with 5:12 left in the period. O'Day split a pair of free throws on the next possessions and then Hannah Hiland scored on the next possessions to put the Foresters ahead for good at 34-33 at 4:34 remaining. O'Day then canned a 3-pointer at 3:42 to give the Foresters some breathing room with a four-point lead. Lake Forest led 40-35 at halftime.

St. Norbert split a pair of Christine Olijnyk free throws to start the third quarter, but O'Day and Sydnor buried consecutive 3-pointers to push the Foresters ahead by 10 points. Lake Forest would maintain a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.

St. Norbert finished shooting 26-for-76 (34.2 percent) from the floor. Macie Zurfluh led the Green Knights with 19 points, while DeCleene added 17 points.

Lake Forest shot 50.8 percent (31-for-61) from the floor and outrebounded the Green Knights 45-39. Kelsey Burton had a team-high 18 points, while O'Day added 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.