Hickory, NC - The #2 seeded Illinois Central College women's basketball team's goal of playing for a national championship ended on Friday night as the Cougars fell 66-59 to #6 seed and rival Kirkwood in the NJCAA DII National Tournament Final Four. The loss snapped an 18-game winning streak for ICC (their last loss was on January 10) and moved them to Saturday's third place game where they will face #1 seed Johnson County (34-1) at 2:00 pm CST.

"This one hurts," coach Karrie Redeker said. "We played hard but had some tough breaks that just did not go our way. The game was very physical which did not allow us to get some of our normal scoring opportunities which really limited us. But we're still very proud of our kids for battling the entire 40 minutes and have nothing to hang our heads about."

Kirkwood took an early lead but Larissa Taylor jumpers and an Ellie VanMeenen layup made it 9-8. The Eagles went up 16-10 before a three-pointer by Hannah West brought ICC to within 16-13 heading into the second period. 

Addy Engel and Kam Heider combined for scores to tie the score at 22-all midway through the quarter. But that's when things went downhill for the Cougars as they missed their next thirteen shots, allowing the Eagles to close the half on a 13-0 run and take a 35-22 halftime lead. The Cougars shot 3-14 for 21% in the quarter while Kirkwood went 7-17 (41%).

After intermission, an Ellie VanMeenen three-pointer broke the seven-minute scoring drought and made the score 35-25 but Kirkwood answered with a run to open their largest lead of the game at 47-30 with 2:55 in the third. The Cougars kept battling as Lily Luczkowiak made a layup, Engel had two freebies, and Taylor added a jumper as ICC closed their deficit to 50-39 heading into the fourth.

The shooting woes came back again to start the fourth as ICC managed just two free throws in the first three minutes. Heider then got hot, making back-to-back threes and another jumper to draw ICC to within 55-49 with 3:43 to play, but Kirkwood hit big shots down the stretch and made their free throws to keep the Cougars from completing the comeback.

Heider led the way with 17 points and had 4 rebounds, Engel had 12 points and 4 rebounds, and VanMeenen had 10 points and 4 assists. Taylor added 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

ICC (32-4) shot 40% for the game while Kirkwood shot 37% from the field but the Eagles owned the glass 38-26 and had 23 free throw attempts to ICC's 13. 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
NJCAA National Tournament 3^rd Place Game
Saturday, March 21 at 2:00 pm CST
vs. Johnson County (34-1)
at Tarlton Gym - Hickory, NC
Livestream is available for purchase at https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index
Audio only with Alex Staab (free): https://icc-womens-basketball.mixlr.com/

SATURDAY SCHEDULE
11:00 am (10) Lansing vs. (5) Schoolcraft (5th place)
  2:00 pm (1) Johnson County vs. (2) Illinois Central (3rd place)
  5:00 pm (4) Pima vs. (6) Kirkwood (championship)

FRIDAY RESULTS
Schoolcraft 77, Moraine Valley 60 - consolation bracket
Lansing 72, CCBC Essex 64 - consolation bracket
(4) Pima 68, (1) Johnson County 67 - championship semifinal
(6) Kirkwood 66, (2) Illinois Central 59 - championship semifinal