Springfield, Ill.---Derria Edwards and Kyleigh Block combined to score 31 points to help lead the #3 ICC women's basketball team to a 69-55 win over #5 Lincoln Land in Region 24 and M-WAC action on Saturday afternoon in Springfield.  Edwards scored 17 points on 7-11 field goal shooting (including 3 three-pointers) and dished out 4 assists while Block went 5-8 from the field with three treys, four rebounds, and three steals.  The Cougars held LLCC to 31% field goal shooting, led by five blocks from Kristyn Mitchell and a charge taken by Kayla Gordon to give ICC their seventh straight win.

Edwards provided the Cougars a spark midway through the first to turn a 6-3 deficit into a 20-13 first quarter lead.  After an assist to a Gordon basket, Edwards went on an 8-0 run of her own with two threes (assists Peyton Dearing) and a layup, followed by Block nailing two back-to-back treys (assists Dearing) to close out the opening stanza.  The defense held LLCC scoreless on their first five possessions of the quarter and offensively Cierra McNamee scored on a Courtney Jones assist, Jones hit a jumper, and Gordon found Peyton Dearing for a long-range bomb to put ICC up 27-13.  Saniya Tutt and McNamee added treys (assists Gordon & Dearing) along with a Jones' score to put ICC up 38-21 going into halftime.

The Cougars took their biggest lead of the day on a trey by Edwards at 46-27 but the Loggers started attacking the paint and getting to the free throw line to whittle away at their deficit to trail just 52-40 heading into the fourth. 

LLCC stayed aggressive, going on a 10-2 run to draw to within 54-50.  And that's when the Cougars responded, going on a 7-0 run as Jones found Mitchell on a designed play for a layup, Block hit a three-pointer (assist Jones), and Edwards found Mitchell for another layup to push the lead back to double digits at 61-50.  The Cougar defense got eight straight stops to help keep the Loggers at bay and get the win.

"This was a gritty win for our team," head coach Karrie Redeker said.  "Our defensive intensity was off the charts in the first half which was a good thing because we needed every bit of that lead to hang on for the win.  We had different players step up in different situations and are learning to trust each other.  We're very happy to get the win." 

Leaders
Derria Edwards 17 pts, 4 asts
Kyleigh Block 14 pts, 4 reb, 3 stls
Cierra McNamee 10 pts, 6 reb
Courtney Jones 9 pts, 9 asts, 6 reb
Peyton Dearing 8 pts, 5 asts
Kristyn Mitchell 7 reb, 6 reb, 5 blks
Kayla Gordon 6 reb, 4 asts, 2 pts, 1 chg taken 

Next up:  The Cougars, now 12-6 (2-0 in Region 24 & M-WAC), have another Top 10 matchup as they travel to #6 Lake Land on Wednesday, Jan. 19 for a 5:30 pm contest.  Live stream will be available at https://boxcast.tv/view/womens-basketball-live-stream-824973 and an audio broadcast with Alex Staab (5pm pregame show) will be at Mixlr.com/ICC-Womens-Basketball.