Quincy, Ill. - The Illinois Central College women's basketball team (18-13, 8-6) gave a valiant effort on Wednesday night in the Region 24 Tournament Quarterfinals, but fell 80-63 to John Wood (17-12, 9-5) at the Student Activities Center in Quincy. The Cougars again held a halftime lead, but the Blazers scored 57 points after intermission, nailing 9-18 three-pointers to advance to the Region Final Four on Saturday. ICC's season ending Wednesday means the Cougars have lost in the Region Quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. 

"Our kids battled," coach Karrie Redeker said, "but John Wood got hot in the fourth quarter and we couldn't get the stops we needed to stay even. We're very proud of our kids' effort and have nothing to hang our heads about."

The Cougars raced out to a 10-2 lead as Cora DeSutter scored inside and Paris Wilson nailed a three-pointer. John Wood climbed back to within 14-12, but a Miya Webb layup and trey (assist Jhanel Coleman) and three Wilson scores gave ICC a 23-14 advantage midway through the second. The Blazers closed the half on a 9-4 run, but the Cougars still held a 27-23 halftime lead. 

John Wood came out of the intermission on the attack and scored five quick points to grab their first lead of the game. Addi Swadinsky scored on a set play (assist Wilson) and then Wilson had an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the score at 32-all. Elena Redgate then scored the next six points to give ICC a 38-32 lead, but John Wood went on a 7-0 run to grab the lead back at 39-28. Redgate had a basket and two freebies to put ICC ahead 42-39, but the home team went on a 9-2 run to close out the third and take a 48-44 advantage into the final frame. 

Swadinsky scored on an old-fashioned three-point play (assist Wilson) to draw ICC to within one at 48-47 at the 9:26 mark, but John Wood scored six straight points to go up 54-47. Wilson scored (assist Swadinsky) to trim the deficit to 54-50, but the Blazers owned the final seven minutes, scoring on drives to the baskets or kick-outs for corner threes for the final margin. 

The final box score showed the Cougars with a commanding rebounding edge at 56-33, but shooting just 23-68 (34%) on the night (including 4-18 from three-point range). John Wood shot just 9-36 (25%) in the first half, but turned that around in the second half to go 21-39 (54%), including the aforementioned 9-18 from long distance. John Wood scored 21 points off of 18 Cougar turnovers. 

FINAL STATISTICS
Paris Wilson | 17 points (career-high), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, "I Beat the Dean"
Elena Redgate | 14 points, 15 rebounds (career-high), 2 assists, "I Beat the Dean"
Miya Webb | 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Addi Swadinsky | 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Cora DeSutter | 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Naomi Elliott | 6 points, 3 rebounds
Imari McDuffy | 2 points, 2 rebounds
Savannah Orgeron | 1 point, 8 rebounds

FINAL COMMENTS FROM COACH REDEKER
"We're thankful to all of our sophomores - Imari, Paris, Saniya, Miya, Naomi, Elena, and Macy - for their time and effort that they've given the last two years to our program and know they will do big things in the future," Redeker said. "We also want to thank each one of our players' families for their support and all of the fans in Cougar Nation for supporting our team."

"A special thanks also goes to our coaching staff - Stan Prosser, Heather Cassady, Dennie Hieronymus, and Greg Martin - for all of their dedication to our team. To Alex Staab for all of his hard work in promoting our program with his Mixlr broadcasts and social media posts. We're so lucky to have many dedicated staff members in our program and have much to be thankful for and proud of," Redeker said.