East Peoria, Ill.---Cold shooting for the #6 ICC women's basketball team resulted in a 69-63 loss to #14 Parkland on Monday night in Region 24 and M-WAC action at Ramsey Gym.  The two teams were actually tied at 50-all heading into the fourth period but Parkland went 8-13 from the field and 3-3 from the charity stripe while the Cougars went just 4-13 from the field and 4-10 from the free throw line in the final frame to lead to the difference. 

Overall, ICC shot just 25-74 from the field (33%) and 9-20 (45%) from the free throw line compared to Parkland's efficient 30-56 (54%) and 7-9 (78%) from the charity stripe. ICC falls to 16-8 overall, 6-2 in Region 24, and 5-2 in the M-WAC while Parkland moved to 15-3.

To open the game, the Cougars used tough defense and spread the ball around offensively as eight players scored to take a 19-13 first quarter lead.  The hosts took their largest advantage at 28-21 with just over seven minutes to play in the second quarter but then Parkland scored on six of their final seven possessions to draw to within 33-32 at the halftime break.

The third quarter was a see-saw affair as neither team held more than a three-point lead.  T'yana Lovelace and Cierra McNamee combined for ten points in the quarter to keep ICC on the attack.

The teams traded scores to start the fourth quarter until Parkland went on a run midway through the quarter to go up 59-53.  Kayla Gordon scored on a layup to draw ICC to within 59-55 and the Cougars then got into the bonus early, but went just 3-8 from the free throw line over their next four possessions, allowing Parkland to go up 64-58. 

A three-pointer by Courtney Jones cut the gap to 64-61; Parkland scored on their next possession but Lovelace answered to make it 66-63.  The Cougars forced a turnover with :15 seconds remaining and ran an out-of-bounds play but the three-pointer fell off the mark.  Parkland added an old-fashioned three-point play to finish out the scoring.

Leaders
T'yana Lovelace 13 pts, 5 reb
Cierra McNamee, 9 pts, 7 reb, 1 chg taken

Next up:  The Cougars have a short turnaround as they will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 9 against Spoon River College at 5:30 pm in Mid-America Bank Gymnasium in Canton, IL.  Live-stream will be available on the SRC Athletics' Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SRCAthletics.  The men's teams will play at 7:30 pm.