by Eric Willuweit

Madison, Wis. – The Illinois Tech women's basketball team will be happy not to travel to Wisconsin over the next several days, as their two recent visits to "America's Dairyland" were less than hospitable, including Wednesday night's visit to Edgewood College that resulted in a 78-52 loss to the Eagles. The Scarlet Hawks fell to 3-10 in NACC play and 5-14 overall. The Muskies improved to 10-3 in the conference and 13-7 overall.

First half play continued to be a challenge for the Scarlet Hawks. The Hawks were outscored 42-18 in the first half of Wednesday night's game, after being outscored by Lakeland 40-18 in the first half of Saturday afternoon's game. Points in the paint was a significant advantage for the Eagles, as they held a 44-12 advantage to go along with a 17-1 dominance in second chance points.

First Half (Edgewood 42 - Illinois Tech 18)

An Ana Jones jumper at the 5:31 mark of the first quarter gave the Scarlet Hawks their first points of the game, trailing 10-2. From there, the Hawks played even with the Eagles for the remainder of the quarter, with each team scoring 12 points over the final five plus minutes for a 22-14 Edgewood lead entering the second quarter.  Unfortunately for the Hawks, the second quarter would be a quarter to forget, as they were only able to tally four points in the second frame and were outscored 20-4 by Edgwood. Illinois Tech misfired on 14 of 15 field goal attempts in the quarter for a 6.7% field goal percentage. Julia Bucci led the Scarlet Hawks with seven points in the first half.

Second Half (Edgewood 36 – Illinois Tech 34)

The second half was significantly more competitive for the Scarlet Hawks. They started the first two minutes of the third quarter with a 9-3 run to cut their deficit to 18 at 45-27. Defense keyed the run, as a block by Chloe Churilla and steals from Catherine Klemp and Bucci led to seven quick points for Bucci. Edgewood responded with a 17-8 run to close out the quarter, and head to the final period leading 62-35. Although the Hawks played a little better than even with Edgewood in the final quarter (17-16), trading points with the Eagles could not get Illinois Tech closer to finish out the game, with Edgewood's final margin of victory landing at 26 points, 78-52. Bucci paced the Hawks in the second half with 15 points, while Kaya Jones added 12 points in the second half.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Bucci with 22 points, shooting 3-6 behind the arc. She also added 3 steals.
• Kaya Jones finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
• Churilla and Grace Goodnough each pulled down 5 rebounds, with Goodnough tallying 3 blocks and Churilla 2 blocks.

Eagles Watch

• Vivian Guerrero paced Edgewood with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
• Kallie Norby added 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Inside the Box Score

• The Scarlet Hawks maintained improved free throw performance, connecting on 9 of 12 attempts good for 75%. The Eagles shot 12-17 for 71%.
• The Scarlet Hawks turned the ball over 19 times, contributing to 18 points for the Eagles.
• Illinois Tech shot 28% from the field; Edgewood shot 45%. 
• Bucci was the minutes leader for the Scarlet Hawks with 30:13; Emma Klein led Edgewood with 22:35 minutes.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks come back home Saturday afternoon, when they host St. Norbert College in a NACC matchup at 4:15 PM on Joe Hakes Court at the Keating Sports Center.