LU women’s basketball squared off against Grinnell at Alexander Gymnasium Jan. 13 in a competition
that was streamed live on the Internet. The Vikings held off sporadic runs by the Pioneers to secure an impressive win with six Lawrence players scoring in double figures.
Lawrence remained composed, breaking down Grinnell’s intense press-defense and took advantage
of open opportunities inside. Sophomore Kelly Mulcahy had 8 of the Vikings’ first 12 points and junior Christine Brice came off the bench with 6 points in three minutes
to continue Lawrence’s domination
in the paint and give them a 14-point lead, their biggest of the half.
Claire Getzoff came out firing in the second half, sinking consecutive
3s as part of her team-high 13-point contribution. Four starters along with Brice and Carrie Van Groll reached double figures as the Vikings held off a final Pioneer rally led by Hannah Wolf who poured in a game-high 29 points, including 7 of 13 shooting from behind the arc. When asked about the Viking performance,
junior captain Christine Brice commented, “We worked hard to come off screens fast and hamper their offense. Our offense stayed productive and capitalized on our inside game. Our offensive contribution was so spread out that it made us harder to defend.”
Action resumed the next afternoon
as Lake Forest came to Alex. The Foresters never managed to take the lead but stayed on the Vikings’ heels throughout the first half. Lawrence would take advantage
of impressive outside shooting
to pull away from LFC partway through the second half. Mulcahy contributed 20 points along with a game-high 8 boards.
Head Coach Amy Proctor expressed her pleasure with the progress over the weekend, praising
the “great balance on display on Friday,” and cited the Lake Forest game as being “the best defensive game of the season.”
With the two weekend wins secured, Wednesday’s matchup with Carroll turned into a mirror image of the men’s game two hours later: a matchup between the top two teams in the conference. “We know what we need to do against Carroll and that is to fully utilize our quickness and athletic ability,” Proctor said. “Carroll has a big team but our speed and athleticism (spearheaded by guards Stoner and Getzoff) will make the difference.”
And make a difference it did. Carroll jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead, but Lawrence stormed ahead and never looked back, taking a 12-point lead into halftime and extending
that lead to as much as 24 in the second half. Getzoff earned a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists, and Kelly Mulcahy scored a carreer-high 30 points as Lawrence took the win 76-56, moving them into first place in the conference. Saturday’s matchup at St. Norbert begins a crucial four-game road trip for the Vikings, culminating with a grudge match Jan. 31 at Ripon, the only team to beat Lawrence this season.
Women’s b-ball moves into first place in MWC
