Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Rally comes up short against Grinnell

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team saw its rally come up short Friday night as Grinnell College hung on for a 53-46 Midwest Conference victory at Darby Gymnasium.

Jessica Vaverka paced Grinnell (3-7, 2-5 MWC) with 13 points, and Brianna Gallo added 10 points and five steals.

Alex Deshler scored 13 points to lead Lawrence (0-12, 0-7). Katie Condon added 12 points and Kanesha Walker had 10. Nakita Chadwick pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Vikings.

After a tight first half, Grinnell began to pull away early in the second half and built its lead to as many as nine points midway through the second half.

Deshler scored eight points in an 11-2 Lawrence run that trimmed Grinnell’s lead to 40-38 with 7:03 left in the game.

The Pioneers built the lead back to nine at 47-38 with 4:36 left, but Condon answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Vikings to cut the margin to 47-44 with 2:12 remaining. Condon hit 4 of 7 shots from beyond the 3-point line.

Gallo hit a pair of free throws for Grinnell, but Deshler answered with a jumper to cut the lead to 49-46 with 1:47 left.

The teams traded missed shots before Toluwaloju Alabi’s layup put Grinnell up 51-46 with 32 seconds left. The Vikings then turned the ball over, and Grinnell hit two free throws in the final 13 seconds to seal the victory.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Monmouth College.

Box score

Pioneers rally to hand Lawrence first conference loss

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carroll University men’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to down Lawrence University 81-79 in a Midwest Conference game Tuesday at Van Male Field House.

Kyle Jones poured in 28 points to pace Carroll (5-6, 3-3 MWC). Paul Grosshuesch added 14 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

Jon Mays paced Lawrence (6-5, 5-1) with 25 points. Erik Borresen had his third consecutive double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Crisman added 18 points.

Lawrence led by as many as 10 points in the second half when Borresen hit a layup for a 66-56 lead with 6:42 left.

Carroll responed with a 17-5 run over the next 3:53 to take a 73-71 lead with 2:49 remaining. The Pioneers hit 7 of 9 shots from the floor during that stretch and went 3-for-4 from the foul line.

Lawrence got a free throw from Borresen with 2:17 left to cut the lead to 73-72, but Grosshuesch countered with a layup for a 75-72 edge.

After Mays missed a layup, Jones hit two free throws to push the lead to 77-72 with 57 seconds left. Mays got a layup for the Vikings off a pass from Chris Siebert, who finished with a career-high nine assists, to cut the lead to 77-74.

Freshman Brian Gryszkiewicz then stole the ball from Jones with 39 seconds left. Carroll fouled Borresen with 25 seconds left, but he missed both free throws.

Carroll then made four consecutive free throws to push the lead back to 81-74 with 10 seconds left. 

Gryszkiewicz got a layup for the Vikings with five seconds left, and Jones turned the ball over seconds later. Mays hit a 3-pointer to cut the margin to two points, but that came as time expired.

Lawrence returns to the road this weekend when it travels to Grinnell College and Monmouth College.

Box score 

Carroll pulls away late to top Lawrence

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carroll University women’s basketball team pulled away late and went on to a 75-53 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Tuesday at Van Male Field House.

Janelle Groer and Lyndsey Seewald scored 16 points apiece to pace Carroll (8-3, 4-2 MWC). Groer also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.

Alex Deshler came off the bench to lead Lawrence (0-11, 0-6) with 14 points and five rebounds. Cathy Kaye added 13 points for the Vikings and Kanesha Walker had 12.

Carroll jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but the Vikings went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 11-11 on Walker’s jumper with 13:55 left in the opening half. Walker scored six of Lawrence’s 11 points in that stretch.

The Vikings fell behind by as many as eight points later in the first half and trailed 35-29 at the half.

Carroll built the lead to as many as 11 points early in the second half, but the Vikings closed to 49-42 on a pair of Kaye free throws with 12:15 remaining.

The Pioneers slowly built the lead back to 12 at 61-49, but Carroll then scored 12 consecutive points, capped by a pair of Katelynn Schneider free throws with 4:09 left, to seal the victory.

Lawrence returns to action on Friday when it travels to Grinnell College.

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Vikings hit the road again for weekend series at Finlandia

The Lawrence University hockey team takes to the road for the second consecutive weekend when it plays a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association series this weekend at Finlandia University.

The Vikings play at Finlandia at 7:35 p.m. Friday night and at 4 p.m. on Saturday. All times are Eastern.

Lawrence split a weekend series at Northland College this past weekend.

Preview

Northland edges Vikings

ASHLAND, Wis. – Nick Hewko scored a power-play goal midway through the third period Saturday and that proved to be the game-winner as Northland College defeated Lawrence University 3-2 in a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Bay Area Civic Center.

The teams split the weekend series after Lawrence posted a 3-2 win on Friday night.

The Lumberjacks (4-9-1, 3-5-0 MCHA) took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when Colin McIntosh scored with 2:22 left in the opening period.

After Derek Brickan got sent off for boarding at 7:57 of the second, Lawrence (7-5-1, 5-3-0) got a short-handed goal from Jameson Raymond to tie the game at 1-1.

Lawrence was on the penalty kill later in the second period after Brad Scurfield was whistled for interference. Jon Sheridan picked up Lawrence’s second short-hander of the game. He scored off assists from Matt Hughes and Corey Garrett to give Lawrence a 2-1 lead at the 15:14 mark.

Northland tied the game early in the third period when Colin Moberly scored on the power play at the 5:05 mark. Hewko then gave Northland the lead for good when he scored on the power play at the 9:09 mark.

Lawrence got a chance on the power play after Reed Smith was whistled for cross-checking at the 13:29 mark but couldn’t convert. Lawrence pulled goaltender Evan Johnson for the final 40 seconds of the game but couldn’t get the equalizer.

Lawrence returns to action next weekend when it travels to Finlandia University for a two-game series.

Box score