GRINNELL, IOWA - Over the past two weeks the Grinnell women's basketball team has knocked off the top two teams of the Midwest Conference. On their senior day Saturday their hope was to upset Monmouth, the No. 3 at home. The visiting Scots showed fortitude as they stole the lead late in the game to claim the victory, 74-66, at Darby Gymnasium.
Monmouth took control early in the game by jumping out to a 12-4 lead. The Pioneers fought their way back fueled by five points from
Grace Marsh at the end of the quarter to close the gap to 23-19. The visitors pulled away to start the second stanza, 32-21, but
Emmy Nyquist helped Grinnell answer by netting two three-pointers in the final minutes leaving the score 37-33 in favor of Monmouth.
Erin Lillis racked up 15 first-half points and she and her teammates hit 8-of-9 free throws to stay close to the Scots.
It was a see-saw battle in the third period as the teams traded the lead five times before Grinnell ended with a 53-51 advantage. The home team held the lead until the 6:00 mark when the Scots made it 57-57. Down the home stretch Monmouth outscored Grinnell 17-9 on the shoulders of seniors Josie Morgan and Jordan Kintigh, who notched their final 15 points.
Lillis scored 25 points on 10-of-22 from the field and she tallied three assists. Her backcourt companion, Nicole Ware also hit for double figures with 11 points and she added three assists. Nyquist proved to be a spark off the bench going 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Payton Hall led with seven rebounds.
The Pioneers shot 39 percent from the field while the visitors posted 46 percent and they hit 87 percent of their free throws going 21-of-24. A career highlight on the day came from
Aidan Coalson '22, who jumped up to 12th on Grinnell's all-time blocked shots list with 41.
With the victory Monmouth moves to 11-6 overall and 8-3 in the league. The Pioneers are now 7-11 and 4-7. On Sunday Monmouth will host the Pioneers on the return date to complete the two-game series.
