MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Cornell College women’s basketball team grabbed a big early lead Saturday and went on to a 68-54 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at the Multi-Sport Center.
Diamond Boyd posted a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds to pace Cornell (10-4, 7-2 MWC).
Lauren Deveikis came off the bench to lead Lawrence (0-14, 0-9) with 14 points in just 17 minutes of action. Aubrey Scott added 10 points and Leah Reeves grabbed eight rebounds for the Vikings.
Cornell went on a 21-2 run over the final 7:16 of the first quarter and bolted to a 28-7 lead after the first quarter.
The Vikings fought back in the second period with some help from Deveikis. Lawrence trailed 38-17 but went on a 10-1 run, with Deveikis scoring five in that stretch, to cut the margin to 39-27 with 1:48 left in the quarter.
Lawrence got to 41-30 after a Deveikis 3-pointer, but Cornell then made four consecutive free throws to lead 45-30 at the half. The Rams were 17-for-19 from the foul line in the first half and went 22-for-25 for the game.
Cornell jumped on the Vikings in the third quarter and limited Lawrence to just four points in the period. Cornell led 61-34 entering the fourth quarter, but Lawrence chipped away at the lead in the final period to close to within 14.