ROCKFORD, Ill.- Looking to avenge a close four point loss earlier in the season the Rockford University women's basketball team took on the MSOE Raiders, the conferences third place team. Coming into the game Rockford was tied with Lakeland for the final conference tournament spot. With a 5-3 record at home Rockford looked to use their strong home court play to make a move in the conference tournament standings.
MSOE and Rockford hung close for the first four minutes of the game until Rockford took a four point lead after two made free throws by Lindsay Lengjak (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah). The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes with Rockford holding onto a 20-17 lead at the 12 minute mark thanks to a three-pointer by Sherrell Woods (Rockford, Ill./East) and a jumper in the paint by Katie Clark (Rock City, Ill./Dakota). Rockford would increase its lead to 11 at the 9:09 mark after a layup by Clark. Soon after MSOE went on a small run and cut Rockford's lead down to five with 6:12 left in the half. A jumper by Jessica Bjerning (Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein) pushed the scored to 42-32 in favor of Rockford with three minutes left in the half. The Regents would hold onto a nine point lead the rest of the way and lead 45-36 at half.
Rockford's offense continued to play well to start the second half. In the span of a minute Callie Rezin (Rockford, Ill./Lutheran) twice stole the ball and made a layup on a fastbreak, the second time also making a free throw shot to give Rockford a 14 point lead five minutes into the second half. On back-to-back possessions Clark would make a layup and a free throw shot to extend Rockford's lead to 18 with 12:46 left in the game. Soon after the Raiders found their groove on offense and over the next three minutes they cut Rockford's lead down to ten. MSOE would continue to cut away at Rockford's lead and bring it down to seven before Arielle Nichols (Tampa, Fla./Land O' Lakes) hit a three-pointer to put the score at 73-63 Rockford with 5:34 left in the game. Rockford's lead would sway a little but they would maintain a sizeable lead the rest of the game in route to a 87-79 win.
Lengjak led the Regents with 24 points. Right behind her was Clark with 18 on 8-of-10 shooting. Bjerning had a solid all around game with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and an assist.
The Regents return to action on February 4th at 7:00 p.m. when Aurora comes to town. Rockford then goes on the road on February 8th to face Edgewood at 4:15 p.m.
