Foresters 7-3 in MWC After Victories at Beloit and Ripon
Liebl scores game-high 17 points on Friday, 27 on Saturday

Devon Liebl led all scorers in both weekend games.

Junior guard Devon Liebl (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Pius XI) led all scorers at Beloit with 17 points. She also pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists, and added five steals. Senior guard Kristy Freeman (Palatine, IL/Palatine) scored 11 points, as did freshman forward/center Nicole Baich (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy), who was 4-for-5 from the field. Senior forward Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) matched her career-high with 10 rebounds.

Both teams shot 42% from the field and 29% from three-point range. The Foresters out-rebounded the Buccaneers 37-31 and committed 23 turnovers while forcing 25 Beloit miscues.

Lake Forest led by as many as 10 points in the first half and by six (32-26) at halftime. Beloit took its first lead of the game with 8:43 remaining and the Foresters trailed 48-47 before scoring five points in a row to regain the advantage for good. The Buccaneers trimmed the margin to 56-55 with 2:57 left and to 60-58 before a Liebl steal and basket with less than 20 seconds to play clinched the win for Lake Forest.

After tying her career-high with 17 points on Friday, Liebl shattered it with a game-high 27 on Saturday. She also pulled down a game-high six rebounds and led her team with five assists and as many steals. She shot 10-for-13 from the field, 4-for-6 from three-point range, and 3-for-5 from the free throw line. Baich shot 4-for-6 from the floor and posted her second straight 11-point performance.

Lake Forest made exactly half of their field goal attempts and shot just 5-for-15 from three-point range. The Red Hawks shot 59.1% from the floor and made each of their three shots from beyond the arc. The Foresters out-rebounded the home team 28-23 and forced 20 turnovers while committing just 13.

Ripon jumped ahead 14-6 early in the game but the Foresters battled back and took a 22-21 advantage with eight minutes left in the first half. The lead changed hands six more times before the visitors went into the locker room at halftime nursing a 38-37 edge. The game was tied eight separate times in the second half, the last at 58-58 with 5:43 left. The Foresters rattled off the game’s next six points and led by at least three the rest of the way.

Lake Forest will be back at home next weekend (February 4-5). The Foresters will host Carroll College Friday night at 5:30 and St. Norbert College at 2:00 Saturday afternoon.