Mattoon, Ill. - The combination of
Cierra McNamee's 25 points and stingy Cougar defense helped the #3 ICC women's basketball team (13-6, 3-0 Region) to a 62-47 win over #5 Lake Land (14-5, 2-1 Region) on Wednesday at Laker Fieldhouse. McNamee sparkled in what was otherwise a defensive battle as she hit on 11-17 field goals to keep the Cougars close until early in the fourth quarter, when they closed the game on a 21-8 run to get the win. The win is the 8th straight for the Cougars.
The teams played to a 12-all first quarter as McNamee established herself in the paint with seven points. The second quarter saw offense being hard to come by for both teams, as Lake Land took a 25-22 lead heading into the intermission.
McNamee put the team on her back in the third quarter, scoring 10 of the Cougars' 13 points on a variety of post moves and finishes, but ICC still trailed 37-35 heading into the final stanza.
The team offense finally got going in the fourth as
Kristyn Mitchell scored on a putback and
Derria Edwards sprinted coast-to-coast for a layup to give the Cougars a 39-37 lead, one they would not relinquish. ICC would then go on a 10-2 run with McNamee scoring two buckets,
Saniya Tutt hitting a runner, and
T'yana Lovelace adding two scores, all to put ICC up 49-39. Tutt added a three-pointer to keep the Lakers at bay, and the defense stayed tough to the end to get the win.
Unofficial stats showed ICC shot 38% from the field (25-66 from two-point range & only 1-18 from three-point range) while Lake Land was 17-64 (27%) from the field, including 6-28 from three-point land.
#3 ICC continues Region 24 and MWAC play by hosting Spoon River on Saturday at 1 pm.
Leaders:
Cierra McNamee | 25 points
T'yana Lovelace | 9 points
Derria Edwards | 4 assists, 1 charge taken
Kayla Gordon | 5 points, 1 charge taken
Next Game:
#3 ICC COUGARS (13-6, 3-0)
vs. Spoon River Snappers (10-7, 1-2)
@ Lorene Ramsey Gymnasium - East Peoria, Illinois
Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 - 1:00 PM Tipoff
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