Rockford, Ill. - A gritty performance on the defensive end helped the #8 Illinois Central College women's basketball team (9-5) to a 66-62 win over #11 Rock Valley (14-4) on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Golden Eagles' first at home in 2022-23 and first ever at the "Rumble at the Rock" event as ICC made enough plays down the stretch in the back-and-forth affair to get the win. 

"Our kids showed a lot of resiliency today," head coach Karrie Redeker said. "We didn't always make the right play, but we always played the next play. It was a great team effort, especially on the defensive end and an exciting atmosphere to play in."

ICC raced out to an early 7-2 lead behind a layup and a trey from Kyleigh Block, then a Cierra McNamee layup. However, Rock Valley's pressure forced ICC into miscues which allowed the hosts to tie the game at 11-all. Laisha Armendariz and Miya Webb splashed in three-pointers to give the Cougars a narrow 19-18 lead at the quarter break. 

T'yana Lovelace and Halie Gilbert scored on put-backs to keep the Cougars ahead 25-23 midway through the second quarter, but the Golden Eagles' pressure continued to wear on ICC. A Block three-pointer would be all the offense ICC could muster to close the half, and Rock Valley took a 31-28 halftime lead. 

The Cougars turned the tables to start the third quarter, forcing four Golden Eagles' turnovers to jumpstart to a 10-0 run as Gilbert and McNamee combined for eight and Peyton Dearing added a layup to put ICC up 38-31. Armendariz, Webb, Lovelace, Paris Wilson, and Elena Redgate continued to keep Rock Valley off-balance on the defensive end, highlighted by an Armendariz steal and layup, followed by a Redgate three-pointer. However, the Golden Eagles stormed back with three treys of their own to grab a 50-49 lead heading into the fourth. 

ICC again started the quarter strong as they got scored seven points in less than a minute--- a three-pointer by Webb (assist Halie Gilbert), McNamee layup, and Dearing trey (assists Naomi Elliott)---to give the Cougars a 57-50 lead with 6:53 to play. Webb  then found Block on a backdoor layup and Dearing added a free throw to put ICC up 60-52 at the 4:37 mark. But the Eagles would not go down without another fight and ramped up their defense and attacked the glass and the rim to go on a 6-0 run and pull to within 60-58 with just over 2:00 to play.  Elliott was fouled late in the shot clock on a drive to the basket and hit the first free throw and missed the second, and Gilbert chased down the offensive rebound and eventually hit a 17-footer from the baseline to give ICC a 63-58 cushion.  RVC answered with a three-pointer on their end to cut the Cougar lead to 63-62; ICC made one free throw to go up 64-62 and Rock Valley's contested go-ahead three-pointer bounced off the back of the rim.  Elliott hit two free throws for the final margin.  

STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Cierra McNamee | 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Kyleigh Block | 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Halie Gilbert | 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist
Peyton Dearing | 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Miya Webb | 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
T'yana Lovelace | 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, "I Beat the Dean"
Elena Redgate | 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Naomi Elliott | 3 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 rebound, 2 charges taken
Paris Wilson | 1 point, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, "I Beat the Dean"

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Wednesday, January 11th, 2023
@ Kankakee Cavaliers (5-11)
5:30 PM Tipoff
Watch Live (YouTube)
Listen Live (Mixlr)