Foresters Defeat Monmouth 70-54, Move Closer to Hosting MWC Tourney 
Team dishes out season-high 21 assists
  

Sherry Wagner scored 9 points and dished out a career-high
5 assists against Monmouth.

On Wednesday, sophomore forward Katie McCants (Menasha, WI/Menasha) was the Foresters' leading scorer with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. Senior guard Karla Gribble (Mineral Point, WI/Mineral Point) was next with 10 points to go with 4 rebounds and game-highs in both assists (6) and steals (4). Senior forward Kim Magee (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego) also posted impressive numbers with 6 points, a game-high 9 rebounds (8 before halftime), 4 assists and 3 steals.

All five starters scored, as did seven different players off the bench. The reserves were led by freshman guard Sherry Wagner (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley), who scored 9 points and added 5 assists and a pair of steals.

The Foresters out-shot Monmouth 46.8% to 39.0% and posted a 41-32 edge in rebounds. Both teams turned the ball over 21 times but Lake Forest matched that total with a season-high 21 assists on 29 field goals. Neither team shot well from the free throw line, combining to make just 13 of 24 attempts.

Lake Forest opened with a three-pointer by Gribble on its opening possession, but fell behind 10-5 after a 10-2 Monmouth run. The Foresters took the lead for good during a 20-2 run that made the score 25-12 with approximately nine minutes to go before the half. Monmouth cut the lead to eight but trailed 43-31 when the teams went into the locker rooms for halftime. The home team's lead was as few as nine just once in the second half and grew to as many as 19.

Lake Forest will travel to Grinnell College on Saturday (February 10th) for a 1:00 PM tip-off. A victory over the 1-12 (MWC) Pioneers along with a Carroll (11-3) win at Ripon (10-3) on Saturday would clinch first place for the regular season and Lake Forest's right to host the four-team conference championship tournament on February 23-24th.

Box Score