East Peoria, Ill.---Cierra McNamee's double-double of 18 points and career-high 16 rebounds helped the #2-seeded ICC women's basketball team roll to a 73-52 win over #7 seed Lewis and Clark in Region 24 quarterfinal action at Ramsey Gym on Wednesday night.  ICC dominated the glass with a 48-27 margin and held LCCC to 33% field goal shooting to advance to the Region 24 semi-finals on Saturday.  

The Cougars (22-9) were a bit tentative offensively to start the game but their defense was in full force, holding the Trailblazers scoreless on their first seven possessions, including a charge taken by Courtney Jones.  ICC held a 10-9 advantage before going on a 9-0 run to close the quarter as McNamee hit two baskets (assists Kyleigh Block), Kayla Gordon found T'yana Lovelace in transition, and Gordon hit a runner to put ICC up 19-9.

Lovelace started the quarter with a put-back followed by a Jones' jumper (assist Peyton Dearing) stretching the lead to 24-9 when the two offenses reversed roles as the Trailblazers went on a 12-4 run to close their gap to 28-21.  Gordon responded with an old-fashioned three-point play, Dayja Evans and Keijah Gray took charges, and McNamee converted another three-point play giving ICC an eleven-point lead at 35-24 at the break.

Jones provided the steady boost that helped pry the game open as she assisted on the first three Cougar baskets in the third and scored a basket of her own, pushing the lead to 46-28.  Gordon and Dearing then assisted each other for back-to-back three-pointers followed by two Keijah Gray put-backs as ICC took a 58-39 lead.

The lead stayed at the twenty-point margin the final frame as the Cougars got layups from Dearing, McNamee and Derria Edwards and a trey by Evans.  McNamee put the icing on the cake with a charge taken in the final minutes to give ICC their last win in Ramsey Gym for the '21-22 season.

Leaders
Cierra McNamee | 18 pts, 16 reb, 1 chg taken
Kayla Gordon | 10 pts, 4 reb, 4 asts, 2 stls
Courtney Jones | 10 pts, 4 reb, 4 asts, 1 chg taken
Keijah Gray | 8 pts, 4 reb, 1 chg taken
Dayja Evans | 1 chg taken, 5 pts

Next up: The #2 seeded Cougars will play on Saturday, March 5 at 4pm against #3 seed Lake Land in the Region 24 semi-finals at John Wood CC in Quincy, IL. 

Live-stream links:  Fans can watch the game one of two ways, either on the JWCC Athletics' Live Stream at https://team1sports.com/jwcc/ or on the ICC Women's Basketball Facebook Live page. 

Audio link:  Alex Staab will provide the audio broadcast at https://mixlr.com/icc-womens-basketball. 

Region 24 WBB Tourney Scores from Wednesday night:
#1 Lincoln Land 77, #8 John Wood 50
#5 Danville Area 68, #4 Parkland 67
#2 Illinois Central 73, #7 Lewis & Clark 52
#3 Lake Land 82, #6 Spoon River 53

Saturday, March 5 Semi-finals' Schedule - at John Wood (Quincy, IL)
2:00 pm #1 Lincoln Land vs. #5 Danville Area
4:00 pm #2 Illinois Central vs. #3 Lake Land