Mesa, AZ - A dismal first quarter led to an 82-73 loss for the #15 Illinois Central College women's basketball team as they fell at #10 Mesa on Saturday afternoon in The Grand Canyon State. The Cougars were outscored 27-11 in the opening stanza before getting on track and trimming their deficit to just four points in the fourth period but Mesa prevailed.

"We dug ourselves too deep of a hole with live-ball turnovers," coach Karrie Redeker said. "But to our kids' credit, we kept battling and outscored Mesa in the final three quarters and were in it at the end but just ran out of time."

Ellie VanMeenen had a career high 25 points (6-9 from the field, 12-16 from FT line), 3 rebounds, and 3 assists while Andrea Glenn had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Hannah West added 13 points and Lexi Meyer had 10 for ICC, now 1-1.

The Cougars got on track in the second quarter as Hannah West and Lexi Meyer nailed treys to cut the Thunderbird lead to just 27-23 midway through the period. Ellie VanMeenen and Michaela Pilgrim also connected from distance, however, the Thunderbirds cashed in three Cougar turnovers into scores just before halftime to push their lead back to double digits at 44-30. Halftime stats showed that MCC scored 21 points off of the ICC miscues.

ICC turned up their defense in the third period, limiting Mesa to just fourteen points. Meanwhile offensively, VanMeenen and Andrea Glenn went to work in the paint to draw ICC to within 58-48 heading into the fourth.

The Cougars got two old-fashioned three-point plays by West and VanMeenen to trim MCC's lead to 62-58 early in the fourth but Mesa hit a big three-pointer and then a questionable flagrant foul on the Cougars gifted Mesa four free throws to extend their lead back to double digits and eventually take the game.

COUGAR LEADERS
Ellie VanMeenen | 25 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 chg taken
Andrea Glenn | 13 pts, 8 reb
Hannah West | 13 pts
Lexi Meyer | 10 pts
Malorie Harris | 7 reb, 3 ast
I BEAT THE THE DEAN: Ellie VanMeenen

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Wed, Nov. 4 at 5:30 pm
HOME vs. Waubonsee Valley
Ramsey Gym, East Peoria, IL