Women’s Basketball

DE PERE, Wis. — Brianna Byrne and Tasha Giese both scored in double figures to lead the St. Norbert College women’s basketball team to a 76-30 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Schuldes Sports Center.

Byrne came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points, and Giese had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Twelve players scored in the game for St. Norbert (8-2, 5-0 MWC).

Kanae Nishitani came off the bench to lead Lawrence (3-7, 1-4) with eight points. Katie Schumacher and Kassidy Rinehart had six points apiece for the Vikings, and Schumacher added a team-high eight rebounds.

St. Norbert neede less than six minutes in the game to build a double-digit lead at 12-2. The Green Knights went on to lead 36-18 at the half. St. Norbert’s biggest lead of the game was the final margin of 46 points.

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APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s basketball team endured a frigid afternoon of shooting and dropped a 65-51 nonconference decision to Finlandia University on Thursday at Alexander Gymnasium.

The Vikings (3-6) hit on just 23.6 percent (17-72) of their shots from the floor, including 12.5 percent (2-16) from 3-point range. Finlandia (4-9) won the game from beyond the arc by hitting on 42.3 percent (11-26) of its 3-point attempts.

Hailey Gervais came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points for Finlandia. Brierra Ruska added 15 points for Finlandia and was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. Marissa Burke had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Lions.

Andrea Wilkinson scored a team-high 13 points for Lawrence, and Alex Deshler had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Deshler was just three assists shy of a triple-double with a team-high seven assists.

Lawrence led by as many as six points in the first five minutes of the game, but Finlandia quickly erased that advantage and went on to lead by as man as seven points at 22-15. The Vikings went on a 10-2 run, with six points coming from Deshler, to take its final lead of the game at 25-24 with 1:20 left in the opening half.

Finlandia then scored the final six points of the half and led 30-25 at the break. Paige Yoho then scored the first eight points of the second half, including hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to give the Lions a 38-28 lead.

Finlandia built the lead to as many as 17 points, and Lawrence never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Lawrence returns to Midwest Conference action on Saturday when it travels to league leader St. Norbert College on Saturday.

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HANCOCK, Mich. — The Finlandia University women’s basketball team held on for a 79-72 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Thursday at the Nurmi Center.

All five of Finlandia’s starters scored in double figures, and Marissa Burke paced the Lions (3-8) with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Both Andrea Wilkinson and Alex Deshler had a double-double for Lawrence (3-5). Wilkinson had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Deshler had a team-high 13 points to go with 11 rebounds. Patsy Kealey added 11 points for the Vikings, and Katie Schumacher had 10 rebounds to go with nine points.

Finlandia built a double-digit lead in the first half thanks to its 3-point shooting. The Lions went 8-for-17 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished the game at 14-for-37.

Finlandia, which led by as many as 14 points in the first half, had to hold off several runs by the Vikings after the break. Lawrence went on a 7-0 run, capped by Kealey’s three-point play, to cut an 11-point lead to 46-42 with 14:58 left.

Lawrence got as close as three points before the Lions pushed the lead back to 68-58 with 6:22 left. The Vikings responded with a 12-5 run, with Wilkinson scoring six points and Deshler adding four, to cut the lead to 73-70 with 2:15 left.

The Lions then got a key 3-pointer from Paige Yoho that increased the lead to 77-70 with 1:28 left. Lawrence didn’t get closer than five points after that.

The Vikings do not return to action until after the holidays, and will face Finlandia again on Jan. 2.

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APPLETON, Wis. — Five Illinois College players scored in double figures, and the Lady Blues forced 35 turnovers en route to a 91-54 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University on Monday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Kelly Lonergan came off the bench to pace Illinois College (6-3, 4-0 MWC) with 17 points. Hannah McGinnis added 16 points and six rebounds for the Lady Blues, and Brittney Burgess had 13 points and six boards.

Reserve guard Kanae Nishitani led Lawrence (3-4, 1-3) with 15 points, and Katie Schumacher added 10 points and five rebounds.

Lawrence led 12-11 midway through the first half when Illinois College took the lead for good. Lonergan scored five consecutive points to put the Lady Blues ahead, and Illinois College then had a strong finish to the first half.

The Lady Blues led 21-16 when they went on a 16-6 run over the final 5:20 of the first half to grab a 37-22 lead at the break.

Illinois College then scored the first 12 points of the second half to stretch the lead to 49-22 with 14:37 left. Lawrence didn’t score in the second half until Schumacher’s layup with 14:03 left. Lawrence never got closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

Illinois College would lead by as many as 40 points.

Lawrence steps back into nonconference play when it travels to Finlandia University on Thursday.

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GALESBURG, Ill. — Kassidy Rinehart hit a free throw with 1.6 seconds left to lift the Lawrence University women’s basketball team to a 93-92 Midwest Conference win over Knox College on Saturday.

The Vikings (3-3, 1-2 MWC) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final 5:28 to earn their first road victory in the league since the 2006-07 season.

Sophomore forward Katie Schumacher posted a double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds to pace Lawrence. Sophomore forward Patsy Kealey also had a double-double for the Vikings with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Andrea Wilkinson poured in 21 points for the Vikings, and Rinehart and Alex Deshler had 10 points apiece.

Lawrence, which trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, scored 57 second-half points to complete the comeback.

The Vikings trailed 86-74 before going on an 11-1 run to close the gap. Deshler got the run started with a three-point play, and Schumacher capped it with a jumper at the 3:05 mark to cut the lead to 88-85.

Knox pushed the lead back to five points, but Lawrence finally tied it at 90-90 on a pair of Wilkinson free throws with 1:14 remaining.

Jodi Marver, who lead Knox (1-7, 0-4) with 22 points, hit a jumper to put the Prairie Fire up 92-90. Rinehart countered with a jumper for the Vikings with 36 seconds left to tie it again.

Rinehart then stole the ball from Marver on the ensuing possession and was fouled with 1.6 seconds left. She missed the first free throw but made the second to give Lawrence the win.

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MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Cornell College women’s basketball team pulled midway through the first half and went on to an 85-42 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University on Wednesday night.

Rikki Mulloy led Cornell (6-1, 3-0 MWC) with 19 points, and Taylor Dicus, who came into the game averaging 19 points and 13 rebounds per game, was limited to 14 points and five rebounds.

Alex Deshler paced Lawrence (2-3, 0-2) with 12 points and five rebounds.

The Rams went on a 13-0 run in the first half to stretch their lead from 14-7 to 27-7 with 6:42 left. Lawrence did manage to trim the margin to 37-22 at the half.

Cornell responded by scoring the first eight points of the second half to stretch the lead to 45-22. Cornell steadily built its advantage and the biggest lead of the game was the final margin of 43 points.

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