No. 2 NIACC falls to No. 5 Illinois Central, 66-62
PEORIA, Ill. - The No. 2 NIACC women's basketball team dropped a 66-62 decision to No. 5 Illinois Central Friday in the semifinals of the Illinois Central Cougar Holiday Tournament.
NIACC, which trailed 25-12 after the first quarter and 37-29 at the half, suffered only its second loss of the season.
Since the 2013-14 season, NIACC and Illinois Central have met 11 times with the Cougars winning 6 and the Lady Trojans winning 5.
NIACC (13-2) faces No. 10 Owens CC in the consolation game at 2 p.m. on Saturday. No. 8 Kirkwood faces Illinois Central in the 4 p.m. Saturday title game.
Kirkwood stopped Owens CC 77-63 in the other semifinal game on Friday.
In Friday's contest against Illinois Central, NIACC's Adria Stewart converted a layup to make it 61-58 with 1:27 to play in the contest and Mikayla Homola drained a 3-point goal with :19 left to make it 64-62. Illinois Central made two free throws with less than :10 left to make it the final margin four points.
NIACC, which had topped Illinois Central 99-82 in its season opener, was led by sophomore UU Longs with 18 points, three assists and two rebounds. Sophomore Kelsie Willert scored 15 points and Homola scored 10 points.
Also for the Lady Trojans, Laker Ward had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Khalilah Holloway had six rebounds and two steals.
Illinois Central was led by Madison Faulkner with 18 points. The Cougars also received 15 points from Bailey Larsen and 10 points from Kellyn Maynard.
NIACC's 2017-18 season (13-2 overall)
NIACC 99, Illinois Central 82
NIACC 90, Bay College 61
NIACC 134, Milwaukee Area Tech 45
NIACC 121, Harper College 28
NIACC 98, Iowa Western 89
NIACC 128, Riverland CC 36
NIACC 102, Rock Valley College 76
NIACC 112, Lake Region State College 57
NIACC 105, Grand View JV 73
Northeast CC 67, NIACC 54
NIACC 111, Central CC-Columbus 51
NIACC 78, NDSCS 77 (OT)
NIACC 106, Dakota College-Bottineau 47
NIACC 122, Kalamazoo Valley CC 58
Illinois Central 66, NIACC 62
NIACC WOMEN'S SEASON SINGLE-GAME HIGHS
TEAM
Points - 134 vs. Milwaukee Area Tech (11-10-17)
3-point goals - 26 vs. Dakota College-Bottineau (12-9-17)
Rebounds - 65 vs. Riverland CC (11-21-17)
Assists - 33 vs. Milwaukee Area Tech (11-10-17)
Steals - 29 vs. Harper College (11-11-17)
INDIVIDUAL
Points - 31, Taylor Laabs vs. Iowa Western (11-18-17)
3-point goals - 7, Shayley Vesel vs. Dakota College-Bottineau (12-9-17)
Rebounds - 16, Khalilah Holloway vs. Northeast CC (12-1-17)
Assists - 8, Taylor Laabs vs. Dakota College-Bottineau (12-9-17)
Steals - 9, Kelsie Willert vs. Kalamazoo Valley CC (12-28-17)
NIACC women's basketball team 2017-18
When NIACC Then NIACC is
Plays at home 7-0
Plays on road 1-1
Plays on neutral court 5-1
Leads at halftime 13-0
Trails at halftime 0-2
Tied at halftime 0-0
Plays in overtime 1-0
Scores less than 60 points 0-1
Scores between 60-69 points 0-1
Scores between 70-79 points 1-0
Scores between 80-89 points 0-0
Scores between 90-99 points 3-0
Scores 100 or more points 9-0
Allows less than 60 points 7-0
Allows between 60-69 points 1-2
Allows between 70-79 points 3-0
Allows between 80-89 points 2-0
Allows between 90-99 points 0-0
Allows 100 or more points 0-0
Game decided by 1-3 points 1-0
Game decided by 4-6 points 0-1
Game decided by 7-10 points 1-0
Game decided by 11-14 points 0-1
Game decided by 15+ points 11-0