East Peoria, Ill.  - There are no such things as style points in post-season basketball, just "survive and advance" and the #4 seeded Illinois Central College women's basketball team did just that as they defeated #5 seeded Lincoln Land 59-48 in Region 24 tournament quarter-final action on Wednesday night at Ramsey Gym.  The Cougars gave a great defensive effort, holding the Loggers to 29% field goal shooting and forcing 22 turnovers to advance to Saturday's semi-final against Lake Land in Mattoon. 

With the win, ICC hit the 20-win plateau for the 11^th consecutive season and  47^th time overall in program history (out of 52 seasons where the team has had a total of 20 games or more) to move their record to 20-10.  Lincoln Land finished their season at 19-11.

"We loved our defensive effort," coach Karrie Redeker said.  "The intensity and grit that we showed couldn't have come at a better time.  We look forward to moving on to the semi-finals."

Both teams struggled out of the gates offensively as Lincoln Land trudged to a 14-9 first quarter lead, thanks in part to an 8-10 effort from the free throw line.  

The Cougars began to play more disciplined defensively as they held LLCC to just six points in the second period and catch back up and knot the score at halftime at 20-all. ICC scoring came on a T'yana Lovelace put-back, a Miya Webb three-pointer (assist Peyton Dearing), and Kyleigh Block basket (assist Webb) along with four free throws.  

Halftime stats showed the Cougars shooting 23% (7-31) and LLCC clocking in at 22% (5-23) from the field.

With ICC leading 24-23 early in the third, a Block put-back and jumper ignited a 10-0 run as Webb and Dearing each hit three-pointers to put ICC up 34-24.  The defense forced seven Logger turnovers in the period (including two shot clock violations) and Dearing nailed another long-range bomb (assist Webb) as ICC went into the final stanza up 35-29.

Cierra McNamee scored inside (assist Paris Wilson) and then a Naomi Elliott put-back gave ICC a 39-34 lead.  ICC used an 8-2 run to push the lead to 47-36 with 5:33 to play on scores by Redgate, Elliott, and back-to-back baskets by McNamee.  After a Dearing layup, McNamee scored the next six points along with Cougar free throws to close out the game.  ICC shot 67% from the field in the fourth quarter to up their percentage to 37% for the game while dishing out 16 assists and recording 11 steals as a team.

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Cierra McNamee | 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Peyton Dearing | 11 points, 2 assists
Kyleigh Block | 9 points, 5 rebounds, & Co-"I BEAT THE DEAN"
Naomi Elliott | 8 points, 4 rebounds, & Co-"I BEAT THE DEAN"
Miya Webb | 6 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds
Elena Redgate | 4 points, 5 assists
Halie Gilbert | 4 blocks, 2 rebounds, 2 points

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Saturday, March 11 - Region 24 Semi-finals at Lake Land College Fieldhouse in Mattoon, IL 
2pm:  #1 Lake Land vs. #4 Illinois Central
4pm:  #2 Parkland vs. #3 Danville 

WATCH LIVE (BoxOut Sports; link will be added on ICC Athletics website - go to WBB schedule page and click "watch live" or find it on Lake Land Lakers Athletics website)
LISTEN LIVE (Mixlr) with Alex Staab on Mixlr