Danville, Ill. - The Illinois Central College women's basketball team (11-6, 1-0) led Danville Area (11-5, 0-1) for a total of 26 seconds on Saturday in both teams' Region 24 and Midwest Athletic Conference (MWAC) openers. Fortunately for the Cougars, it was in the 39th minute of the game, as
Naomi Elliott made two free throws to give ICC their first lead of the afternoon, and then
Savannah Orgeron nailed two more freebies to lift the Cougars to a thrilling 78-75 comeback win over the Jaguars at Mary Miller Gym.
Elena Redgate's double-double effort of 21 points (career-high) and 10 rebounds, Orgeron's 23 points, and
Miya Webb's 11 points (+ 8 rebounds) were all big factors in this one, but it was the overall effort and resiliency that earned the Cougars their first region/conference win.
"Our kids really battled," coach
Karrie Redeker said, "and it took everyone to et this one. We did a good job of staying positive and trusting each other, and it paid off. It was great to see our kids compete for the full 40 minutes."
Danville Area came out firing to grab an early 13-2 lead just three minutes into the game. Webb hit a three-pointer, but the Jaguars stayed on the attack to go up 22-9 before Orgeron and
Cora DeSutter hit back-to-back threes that cut the deficit to 25-17.
Addi Swadinsky scored on a layup, but Danville Area took a 31-21 lead after a quarter.
The Jaguars stayed in control throughout the second quarter to take their biggest lead of the day at 45-29 with 2:40 to play, but ICC closed the half on a 6-0 run via two
Paris Wilson layups and free throws from DeSutter to trail 45-35 at the halftime break.
The Cougars trimmed their deficit to 51-45 as Redgate knifed through the Danville Area zone for a basket and an old-fashioned three-point play, and Orgeron had a trey (assist
Imari McDuffy) and layup (assist Redgate). A Webb three-pointer got ICC to within 53-49, but the Jaguars responded with an 11-2 run to go into the fourth up 66-54.
ICC's defense finally dug in, holding the Jaguars scoreless for the first four minutes of the fourth, as the Cougars went on an 11-0 run. Swadinsky scored on a jumper, Webb nailed a three-pointer (assist DeSutter), Wilson got a steal and assisted Webb for a layup, and Wilson scored inside on a feed from Redgate as ICC trailed just 66-63 at the 6:26 mark. After a Danville Area free throw, Redgate and McDuffy made back-to-back layups to tie the game at 67-all with 5:35 remaining. The Jags hit a three on the next possession, but Orgeron answered with a jumper to stay within 70-69. Danville hit another trey to go up 73-69, but ICC added two Orgeron free throws to keep pace at 73-71. The Jaguars answered again with a layup to take a 75-71 lead when Orgeron nailed a three-pointer (assist Swadinsky) to draw to within 75-74 with 2:06 left. Neither team was able to score on their next two possessions until Elliott rebounded a Cougar miss at :26 and was fouled on the putback attempt. Her free throws swished in for the go-ahead score and then after a defensive stop, Orgeron's free throws sealed it.
The Cougars won the battle of the boards 46-31 and the ICC bench outscored Danville Area 36-3 to help the cause. While the Jaguars shot 48% for the game, the Cougar defense held the Jaguars to just 25% in the final quarter. ICC also went 10-12 from the free throw line in the second half to complete the comeback.
FINAL STATISTICS
Miya Webb | 11 points, 8 rebounds
Savannah Orgeron | 23 points, 4 rebounds
Addi Swadinsky | 4 points, 5 assists
Naomi Elliott | 2 points, 6 rebounds
Jhanel Coleman | 2 points, 2 rebounds
Imari McDuffy | 2 points, 6 assists
Paris Wilson | 8 points, 4 rebounds
Elena Redgate | 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
Cora DeSutter | 5 points, 4 rebounds
"I Beat the Dean" | The team!
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
vs. #6 Lake Land Lakers (13-4, 0-1)
Wednesday, January 17th - 5:30 PM
@ Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Ill.
Watch Live (YouTube)
Listen Live (Mixlr)
