Women's Basketball Falls to Bluejays

Law scores 12 for Monmouth

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (12/18/2022) — The Monmouth College women's basketball led after three quarters but couldn't pull off a win in a 57-52 loss to Westminster on Saturday. The non-conference loss drops the Scots to 5-6 on the season.

Westminster jumped out to a 6-0 lead as they knocked down 3-pointers on their first two possessions. Monmouth had four turnovers before Madison Heisch (Illinois City, Illinois) made a free throw to get the Scots on the board. Lily Harlan (Washington, Illinois) made a field goal on the next possession to cut the Westminster lead to 8-3. Zoie Wall (Bartonville, Illinois) made her first shot of the game and scored again on the next possession for a 6-0 Scots run. Down 10-7, Tarae Warner (Burlington, Iowa) got into the scoring column before the teams traded baskets. Westminster hit another 3-pointer and pushed the lead to 16-11 before Ashley Jones (Abingdon, Illinois) made a layup and Wall scored off her own miss.

Down 16-15 after the quarter, Monmouth took their first lead as Jones scored in the lane to start the second quarter. Harlan scored on a layup for a 19-16 lead before Westminster ended the 8-0 run. Warner buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key before the visitors went on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 22. Jones made a free throw and Audrey Law (Bloomington, Indiana) put the Scots up 25-22 with 2:30 to go in the half. Westminster scored the final five points of the half to lead 27-25 at the break.

The Bluejays hit a 3-pointer to start the second half and Harlan answered with one of her own. Jones completed a 3-point play to give Monmouth a 31-30 lead but the Bluejays scored the next five points. Allie Hoy (Woodland, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer and Law made a runner in the lane for a 36-35 Scots lead. Both teams went cold before Harlan scored in the lane with 2:00 to go in the quarter. Leading by three, the Scots got a 3-pointer from Hoy with the shot clock winding down to go up 41-35. Law scored with 10 seconds left in the quarter for a 43-35 lead heading into the fourth.

Westminster scored their first points in more than six minutes in their first possession of the fourth quarter. The Bluejays scored again to cut the Scots lead to four. Law scored four straight points to put the Scots up 49-42 but the Bluejays scored the next four points as the Scots turned the ball over. Kiersten Cox (Illinois City, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer to put the Scots up six with 5:07 to play as the Bluejays called timeout. Westminster scored the next six points to tie the game with 1:35 to play. Monmouth turned it over and the Bluejays took the lead with just under one minute to play. Warner missed a runner in the lane and the Bluejays got the rebound. They missed but got a rebound, forcing the Scots to foul. The Bluejays split the free throws with 12.3 seconds left to lead 55-52. The Scots got a look at the game-tying shot but it was short and the Bluejays made two more free throws for a 57-52 win.

Law led the Scots with 12 points while Harlan had nine, Wall had eight and Jones had seven. Harlan led the way with nine rebounds while Wall and Law had two steals.

The Scots are off until Dec. 30 when they host Augustana College in a non-conference game.