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Women's basketball has one last chance to win

Basketball hits the road looking to end the season on a positive note after winning the last home game of the year

by Kevin Byrne

It took five extra minutes of basketball to decide the outcome of the Grinnell College-Illinois College contest last Saturday in Galesburg.

The women's team found itself deadlocked as regulation expired, but the Pioneers were outscored by six in the extra period for a final score of 79-73.

Hannah Wolf '08 was back on the court in top form after sitting on the bench for the last five games with a leg injury.

Wolf was the game's high scorer, putting up a total of 23 points, including six out of 12 shots from three point territory.

Emily Kolbe '07 had 11 points and three rebounds, Katie Schumacher '07 also had 11 points and Katy Bowen '06 dished out a game-high nine assists.

"It was great to come back again," said Wolf. "I'm really glad to be able to play in the last few games. Sitting out for five games was really hard for me, especially since it was the first time in my life to ever miss a game."

The Pioneers went into halftime trailing by five, but came out firing in the second half, putting up 40 points and pulling even with IC before the end of regulation time.

Unfortunately, the women struggled slightly in overtime, giving up 12 points while only netting six.

Although the Pioneers could not bring home a win, it was still a very good game overall for the women. All of the team put in a solid performance and a tremendous amount of effort.

Four Pioneers played for at least 30 minutes during the game and as a team, Grinnell shot 45 percent from the field.

Illinois College also had a good game, going 21-25 from the free throw line, highlighted by Courtney Allen's perfect 11-for-11 from the line.

"Saturday's loss was painful for our team because we truly left our effort on the floor," said Head Coach Andy Hamilton. "Our overall play was solid throughout the whole game and our second-half performance was tremendous. It would be hurtful for us to pin the loss on any one play or players because at least 10 different plays?-a rebound here, a better shot there, a defensive stop-could have changed the outcome."

This past Wednesday the Pioneers had their final home game of the season. The Pioneers went up against conference rival Knox College for the second time this season and came out victorious once again, defeating the Prairie Fire 63-59.

The victory was very important because it allows the Pioneers to enter their final game of the season with a positive attitude.

The two seniors on the team, Bowen and Lauren Meredith finished their last home game at Grinnell with a pair of strong performances.

Bowen was the game's high-scorer for the Pioneers with a total of 15 points. Meredith put up nine points against Knox and also contributed three rebounds and a steal.

The win makes Grinnell's record 9-13 overall (5-10 MWC).

With just one game remaining on the schedule and out of playoff contention, the Pioneers are looking for another victory to send the seniors out with a bang and to build a foundation for the next season. Grinnell will travel to Lake Forest on Saturday for the final contest of the season.

"Lake Forest is a strong team, but we hope to get a good win against a good team on the road," said Hamilton. "Two areas of the game need to fuel our success this week ? defense and rebounding."

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