East Peoria, IL - The 17th-ranked Illinois Central College Women's Basketball team (5-2, 0-0) got back into game rhythm on Thursday night when they hosted the Junior Varsity squad from the St. Ambrose University Bees. The Cougars took a brief while to get back rolling, but when they did, there was no stopping them. The game would end with all 13 players scoring and a balanced box score throughout. Per NJCAA rules, the scores of exhibition contests may not be reported, but individual stats can. Those are included at the end of this story. 

The game's first quarter is where that slow start was contained. Lauren Maas came up with a big block at the end of the quarter, but the Cougars were unable to extend their lead beyond a double-digit margin. 

That elusive double figure lead would show itself when Larissa Taylor found an open Emily Dana down on the left post for a layup and an 11-point lead with 8:06 remaining until halftime. 

Addy Engel would clean up a three-point miss and crash the boards for a layup and a 13-point advantage at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter. 

After Engel free throws brought the lead to 20 points, the Cougars got a stop-and-score. After baseline defense by Madison Jobe forced a high pass out of bounds by the JV Bees, Kamryn Heider found Jobe for a trey from the left wing and the largest lead (at the time) of 23 points with just over two minutes until the break. 

Cora DeSutter stood tall against a St. Ambrose JV desperation attempt at the halftime buzzer, blocking the shot and keeping ICC's lead at 20 points after 20 minutes of play. 

Lily Luczkowiak found a good lane to the hoop on the right side, and was able to draw contact on the way up for a three-point play attempt and a 23-point lead just 2:34 into the second half. 

After a line change of substitutions, the Cougars immediately broke a Bee press with Maas finding Savannah Orgeron, found found DeSutter, who found Heider for an easy layup on the right post, executing a perfect weave amid the press break and creating a 31-point lead midway through the third. 

On another fast break opportunity, more good ball movement from the Cougars saw Heider hand it off for a driving Dana for a layup to go up 40 points with 2:24 left in the third. 

Inbounding with just 3.4 seconds on the clock, Heider quickly found DeSutter, who spotted an open Dana on the right wing, and releasing the ball with 0.8 seconds to go, knocked down another ICC trey to swell the lead to 44 points with the fourth quarter still to come. 

Larissa Taylor was nearly behind the arc when she knocked down a long-distance two-pointer for the Cougars to eclipse the 70-point threshhold in the infancy of the fourth quarter. 

Kaitlin White would go on a personal run during the quarter's mid-section. White knocked down a three from the left wing, forced a miss with defense on the other end, and knocked down another three, this time from the right wing (assist Khalise Thomas), all consecutively and within 17 seconds of each other. 

With around 3:30 to go, Jobe was double-teamed on the right side of the lane, which led to a wide open Gracie Heckert for a layup and a now-59-point lead. Off of a free throw miss, Thomas found an open Heckert from the right wing for a three-pointer and the mark that stood at 85 points with an even minute left. 

On a turnover with 13.6 seconds to go, 12 players out of the 13 rostered had scored for the Cougars. Alas, Thomas was not about to let it be as such, finishing off the scoring column for the entirety of the roster with a spin move layup and the final offensive tally of 88 points. 

COUGAR STATISTICS
Addy Engel | 18 points, 2 rebounds
Kaitlin White | 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Lily Luczkowiak | 9 points, 3 steals
Emily Dana | 9 points, 3 rebounds
Addi Swadinsky | 6 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Kamryn Heider | 6 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Madison Jobe | 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Cora DeSutter | 6 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Gracie Heckert | 5 points, 2 rebounds
Larissa Taylor | 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Khalise Thomas | 2 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Lauren Maas | 1 point, 4 rebounds, "I Beat the Dean"
Savannah Orgeron | 1 point, 9 rebounds

NOTABLE TEAM STATS
Field Goal Percentage | Cougars 50%, St. Ambrose JV 17%
Three-Point Percentage | Cougars 40%, St. Ambrose JV 6%
Free Throw Percentage | Cougars 83%, St. Ambrose JV 60%
Total Rebounds | Cougars 55, St. Ambrose JV 30
Points in the Paint | Cougars 42, St. Ambrose JV 12
Points off Turnovers | Cougars 33, St. Ambrose JV 11
Second Chance Points | Cougars 36, St. Ambrose JV 8

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ D1 Mineral Area Cardinals (10-2)
Saturday, December 7th - 1:00 PM
at Sechrest Fieldhouse - Park Hills, MO
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