East Peoria, Ill.---A commanding rebounding edge helped the #14 ICC women's basketball team to a 76-62 victory over #15 Lake Land on Wednesday night in Region 24 action at Ramsey Gym.  The Cougars snatched 16 offensive rebounds to score 25 second-chance points en route to a 37-22 overall rebounding edge in the contest, with Kristyn Mitchell, Keijah Gray, and T'yana Lovelace each pulling down 3 offensive rebounds apiece.  Mitchell and Peyton Dearing had a total of 6 caroms each to help the Cougar cause and help get the win.

ICC had all the bullets in the arsenal firing early as Kayla Gordon, Mitchell, Courtney Jones, and Cierra McNamee scored to help the Cougars take a 13-5 lead.  Dearing beat the first quarter buzzer with a runner on an assist from Derria Edwards in transition to give the Blue and Gold a 19-16 advantage after one.  

The defense stepped up in the second quarter as they earned three "turkeys" (three consecutive stops on defense), highlighted by a charge taken from Edwards.  Offensively, Jones had three scores, Dayja Evans nailed back-to-back treys, and Mitchell and Gray combined for three baskets, including Mitchell's rebound basket that beat the halftime buzzer and gave the hosts a 39-25 halftime edge.

Jones hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter followed by Gordon and Edwards' scores, and then the inside game took over as Mitchell, McNamee, Lovelace, and Gray provided the scoring punch as ICC went into the final frame up 56-43.

The Cougars continued to move the ball well to help stretch their lead to 73-53 midway through the fourth as McNamee hit for nine points in the frame.  Edwards splashed in a three-ball, and Jones and Lovelace each added baskets before LLC made one last surge for the final score. 

Leaders
Cierra McNamee | 15 pts, 5 reb
Courtney Jones | 13 pts, 4 reb
Kayla Gordon | 11 pts, 4 asts
Kristyn Mitchell | 10 pts, 6 reb
Keijah Gray | 8 pts, 5 reb
Derria Edwards | 8 pts, 4 asts

Next up:  The Cougars, now 18-9 overall and 8-3 in Region 24, will play at #13 Parkland (Champaign, IL) on Saturday, February 19 at 1pm.   

Live-stream:  Cobras Athletics' YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1gGrfy4uRLyKIysllHlcsQ/videos
Audio: Alex Staab's on Mixlr at https://mixlr.com/icc-womens-basketball