Champaign, Ill. - Lily Luczkowiak's 23 points and Kam Heider's 18 points led the #8 Illinois Central College women's basketball team to an 83-78 win over #5 Parkland in Region 24 action on Wednesday night at Dodds Gymnasium. Luczkowiak connected on 8 of 13 from the field while Heider nailed all four of her three-point attempts to help the Cougars get the win. 

Addy Engel had 13 points and Maziah Shelton added 11 points for ICC, now 21-3 overall and 8-2 in Region 24. Parkland dropped to 18-5 overall and 9-1.

"Our kids gave a great overall effort," coach Karrie Redeker said. "Things didn't always go our way but we battled and played the next play which was important. Parkland has a lot of offensive weapons but we really dug in defensively to get some big stops at key moments. Kam hit some big threes and Lily was solid all night but it took all of us to get this win."

The Cougars raced out to a 7-2 lead at the start on Luczkowiak and Engel layups, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Shelton. PC got on track and drew to within 13-12 and then went on a 7-2 run to take a 19-15 lead after one.

Layups by Shelton, Engel, and Luczkowiak led off the second, followed by an Ellie VanMeenen trey (assist Luczkowiak) and Engel layup for a 26-23 Cougar lead. Heider hit two treys and Luczkowiak and A'Meah Lester each scored but Parkland took a narrow 38-36 advantage at intermission.

PC scored the first basket of the third quarter but Luczkowiak ignited a 10-0 run with two layups and an old-fashioned three-point play followed by an "and-one" from Engel as ICC grabbed the lead at 46-40. The Cobras scored but then Heider swished in a trey (assist A'Meah Lester) and was fouled for a rare four-point play and a 49-42 advantage. Another Luczkowiak score gave ICC their largest lead at 56-46 before PC countered with a 7-0 run to draw to within 56-53. Shelton scored inside (assist Hannah West) and VanMeenen added a jumper but Parkland took a 62-61 lead heading into the fourth.

Shelton started off the fourth with two layups for a 65-61 ICC lead. And that's when the Cougars' defense toughened, limiting Parkland to just a free throw over the next six minutes, including a key charge taken by VanMeenen for a 69-63 ICC lead with 3:32 remaining. Parkland then nailed back-to-back treys, but a Luczkowiak layup and VanMeenen trey kept ICC up 74-69. Larissa Taylor had a key block and ICC hit free throws to keep PC at bay, but the Cobras nailed two treys in the closing minute to keep things interesting as ICC clung to a 79-77 lead with :09 seconds until Taylor and Heider's free throws sealed the win.  

UNOFFICIAL BOX
Lily Luczkowiak | 23 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast
Kam Heider |18 pts, 5 reb 
Addy Engel13 pts, 4 ast
Maziah Shelton | 11 pts, 4 reb
Ellie VanMeenen | 9 pts, 7 reb, 2 chgs taken
I BEAT THE DEAN: The Entire Squad!

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Sat, Feb. 7
vs. (RV) Lake Land at 1pm
Ramsey Gym, East Peoria, 
Livestream: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/il/east-peoria/organization/55914/illinois-central-col/