East Peoria, Ill. - The Illinois Central College women's basketball team hosted some of the best teams in the Midwest at their 9th annual jamboree on Saturday held at Ramsey Gym and the CougarPlex practice courts. The Jamboree featured a total of 20 teams, including DI, DII, and DII junior college teams from Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana.  In addition to teams getting their first action of the pre-season, the event served as a recruiting opportunity for players who want to continue their careers after playing junior college as 24 four-year college coaches were in attendance.

The Cougars played three Division I teams in Rend Lake, Vincennes, and John A. Logan; NJCAA rules do not allow the reporting of scores, but individual highlights can be shared.  They were:

vs. Rend Lake:  Elena Redgate 14 pts and Cierra McNamee 8 pts, 4 blks, 4 reb
vs. Vincennes:  Kyleigh Block 9 pts, 2 asts and Cierra McNamee 8 pts, 4 reb
vs. John Logan:  Halie Gilbert 12 pts, Peyton Dearing 1 chg tkn
Assist leader:  Laisha Armendariz Lopez - 7 asts

"Our team had a solid outing for our first time out," head coach Karrie Redeker said.  "We played with good intensity on the defensive end and had great energy.  Our goals were to play hard, compete, and have fun and we did all three of those things so it was a successful day." 

Participating teams were:  Black Hawk, Danville, Illinois Central, John Logan, Joliet, Kishwaukee, Lake Land, Lincoln Land, Lincoln Trail, Morton, Olney, Parkland, Rend Lake, Rock Valley, Sauk Valley, Spoon River, St. Louis, Southwestern Illinois, Vincennes, Waubonsee

4-year college coaches in attendance:  Loyola University Chicago (Jordan McCann), Missouri S & T (Kira Carter, Van Klohmann), McKendree Unversity (Kari Kerkhoff), Lewis University (Keisha Newell, Jon Hill, Tierney Lockett, Maia Marshall), Chicago State University (Diana Martinez), Purdue Northwest University (Constantine Popa), Eureka College (Rhys Pepino), Clarke University (Courtney Boyd, Adam Hocking, Lily Carver), Calumet College of St. Joseph (Jacob Parker), Western Illinois University (Ashley McGee), Iowa Wesleyan (Steve Williamson), Graceland (Willie Scott), University of Illinois-Springfield (Summer Quesenberry, Michaela Gibbons, Amber Ramirez), Rockford University (Taylor Stinson, Victoria Nguyen), Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (Lulu McKinney) 

Following the jamboree, the Cougars held their annual Meet & Greet Potluck to kick off the season.

Next up:  The ladies play in a jamboree next Sunday at Rock Valley College in Rockford at 8am, 9am, and 2pm.  

Other note:  The BSN Team Store for women's basketball closes Monday, October 10 at 11:59 pm so be sure to get your gear ordered soon!  The link is:  https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/eMWkk6z5Xx