ROCKFORD, Ill.- Saturday afternoon the Rockford University women's basketball team hosted the Lakeland College Muskies. Despite some early season struggles, a win earlier this week against Dominican put Rockford just a game and a half out of the final conference tournament spot. Rockford struggled out of the gates and found themselves down by 19 at half. But a huge turn around in the second half and a late rally gave the Regents a chance to win the game.
The Regents offense was rusty much of the first half. Rockford's only lead of the half was at the 18:26 mark after a layup by Diamond Williams (Carpentersville, Ill.). Williams, who has been a force on both sides of the court for much of the season, had to sit for most of the first half after receiving two early fouls. Lakeland was up by as much as 21 in the first half as the Muskies slowly added to their lead throughout the half. A late layup by Amanda Davis (Mundelein, Ill.) brought the first half score to 43-24 in favor of the Muskies. Lakeland shot 55% from the floor for the half, but Rockford held them to just 36% in the second half.
Williams and Davis took over the game for the Regents in the second half. They scored a combined 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting, with Davis making all five of her shots. The Regents started the second half on a 8-0 run. Seven minutes into the half, Rockford went on a 9-0 run that lasted four minutes to put the score at 54-47. The Muskies held strong for a few minutes but another run, this time 6-0, brought the Regents within six points. With two minutes left in the game the Muskies held a 67-59 lead and the game looked in doubt for the Regents.
Not to be deterred, Rockford's offense once again stepped up. Davis made a layup and after a defensive stop, Williams made a quick layup of her own. A clutch steal by Mallorie Getzelman (Boylan, Ill.) resulted in her getting fouled and making two huge free throws. Down 67-65 with just 44 seconds left, the Regents defense again forced a turnover. After a timeout the Regents drew up a play to the hot-handed Davis, who hit a tough jump shot to tie the game at 67. With only seven seconds left in the game, Rockford needed one more stop to send the game into overtime. Lakeland quickly drove down the court but the Muskie ball handler was stopped at the free throw line by a wall of Regents. Lakeland was able to kick the ball out and found an open Muskie who threw up a long three-point shot, which banked in as the game buzzer went off. After being down by 19 points at half, the Regents would fall in the last second of the game to the Muskies 70-67.
Davis finished with 17 points while Williams finished with 16 points. Williams added in seven rebounds and an assist. Getzelman had another all around good game, finishing with nine points, four rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Rockford's bench, which scored 17 points for the game, was led by Tajanae Key (Glendale Heights, Ill.) who had eight points and five rebounds.
The Regents next home game is on January 28 at 7:00 p.m. against Concordia Chicago.
