LISLE, Ill. - With the 2012-13 season coming to a close, the women's basketball team hit the road Wednesday night looking to pick a quality road win at the Benedictine University Eagles. The Eagles have already clinched a bid in the Northern Athletics Conference tournament while the Regents remain 1 game out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
After making two of its first three shot attempts and taking a quick 5-2 lead, the Regents fell behind midway through the first half. Following that fast start, Rockford proceeded to make only 3 of its next 19 shot attempts and trailed Benedictine 20-11 with 8 minutes remaining before halftime. Just when it appeared as though the ladies were in trouble on road, they promptly went on an 11-1 run over the next 7 minutes. Junior Lindsay Lengjak (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) led the team with 4 points during the run and fellow junior Jessica Bjerning (Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein) capped off the run hitting a jumper to give the Regents a 22-21 lead late in the first half. The Eagles countered with two quick baskets just before the half as the Regents entered the break down 25-22.
The second half started off with a flurry of points for both teams. Rockford senior Nicole Lawler (Pearl City, Ill./Pearl City) was the entire offense during the first 5 minutes of the half. Lawler scored the first 9 points of the second half to pull Rockford into a 31-31 tie with Benedictine. The two teams went back and forth for most of the second half with the Eagles finding themselves up 7 points with 3 minutes and 40 seconds remaining. Rockford made one final push scoring the next 6 points to pull within a single point with only 90 seconds remaining. The Regents had one last chance to tie the game down 59-56 with 13 seconds remaining but could only manage a 2-point basket as time expired to fall 59-58 on the road.
Rockford did an excellent job controlling its turnovers on Wednesday. The Regents who average 22.7 turnovers per game this season, gave the ball away just 13 times while forcing 18 turnovers including coming up with 11 steals. The ladies did a nice job converting those takeaways into points holding a 14-4 edge in points off turnovers. However, a major deciding factor came at the free throw line. Rockford shot nearly 4.5 percentage points below its season average connecting on only 11-17 attempts while Benedictine went 12-14.
The women's basketball team will continue its push to move into the final playoff spot on Saturday when the ladies travel to Mequon, Wis. to face the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons. The Regents are 0-10 against the Falcons since joining the NAC in 2006, and tt will not be easy for the Regents to get that first win as the Falcons are currently 12-2 in conference play this season and are leading their division. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
