The Lawrence University women’s basketball team split a pair of MWC games this past snowy weekend, defeating Grinnell 93-80, but losing to Lake Forest 82-69. The Vikings are in second place in the MWC, a game behind first place Ripon.
The Grinnell women are beginning to play a similar up-tempo, three-point shooting style as the men. However, they don’t quite have it down yet. The Vikings were able to take advantage of this by making several easy shots and shooting 58 percent for the ball game. In the first half, Claire Getzoff became the fourth LU women’s player to break the 1000-point scoring mark. She needed six points to hit the 1000-point mark; she easily eclipsed the mark scoring eleven points. Getzoff made herself known in other ways in the game by disking out a season high ten assists. Taking advantage of the easy baskets in the post, Felice Porrata and Kelly Mulcahy had field days. Porrata scored 22, and Mulcahy added 20. The Pioneers kept it close, but the Vikings pulled away with free throws in the last few minutes.
Saturday after a harrowing bus ride, the Vikings got to play Lake Forest, one of the MWC’s perennially good teams. The Foresters has lost a close game to Ripon the evening before, and did not want to lose two in a row at home. However, it was the Vikings who got out to an early start. The Vikings controlled the tempo in the first half, taking as big a lead as seven points, and had a five-point lead, 38-33 at the half. However, it would not last.
The second half belonged to the Foresters. Lake Forest would stretch their lead up to as much as 11, before the Vikings came storming back. LU would go on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three, but that’s as close as they would get. Lake Forest came right back with an 8-0 run of their own, and stretched it to end the game on top. The Vikings are now 6-2 in the Midwest Conference, in a tie for second place with St. Norbert.
The Vikings will get another shot at Grinnell this weekend as well as seeing Monmouth for the first time. The Scots and Vikings will tip it off at 5:30 Friday night, and Grinnell and Lawrence will play at 2 on Saturday. The Vikings will continue their homestand with a huge game against first place Ripon Tuesday night at 6 p.m. That game may determine the Midwest Conference champion.
Women split a pair on slippery roadtrip -dlh
