Sophomore Ilah Perez-Johnson registered her first collegiate double-double and Cornell controlled Lake Forest for the duration of Saturday’s 68-55 Midwest Conference women’s basketball win inside the Small Sport Center.
The Rams went 3-2 on their five-game homestand and jumped to 4-3 overall, 1-1 in the MWC.
Perez-Johnson made the most of her 19 minutes of court time, netting 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, including seven offensive. Her impressive performance came in a reserve role for the Rams, who outscored Lake Forest (2-5 overall, 1-2 MWC) in bench points, 24-10.
The Rams had 11 players score in a contest which they led for all but 11 seconds. Madison Wauters and Madison Osborn had four points apiece that triggered a game-opening 8-0 run and the Rams never looked back.
Wauters finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Osborn added 10 points, Rachael Adewusi eight. Sophomore Kali March turned in a fine floor game with eight assists to only one turnover. She also collected a team-best four steals.
Cornell was tough on the defensive end, forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Foresters to 30.8-percent shooting. Lake Forest’s Katie Neher, the top scorer in the MWC, was limited to 13 points, six below her season average.
The Rams built their largest lead at 60-41 on a jumper by Ani’ja Simmons with 6:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the week, the Rams dropped a 72-51 game against the Illinois College Lady Blues.
Cornell led 15-14 after one quarter and held a 24-21 advantage with less than four minutes to go in the opening half.
The Lady Blues (2-4 overall, 1-0 MWC) sprinted ahead with a 14-0 spurt late in the first half and had the Rams playing catchup the rest of the game.
Sophomore Ani’ja Simmons paced the Rams with 11 points and seven rebounds. Madison Wauters collected nine rebounds, five points, four blocked shots and three steals. Kali March chipped in eight points, while Ilah Perez-Johnson added six rebounds and five points off Cornell’s bench.
The Rams were pressured into 32 turnovers which Illinois College converted into 31 points. The Lady Blues attempted 18 more field goals, connecting at a 40.3-percent clip.
The Rams finished with eight blocked shots, giving them 13 in the past two games. Cornell stayed even with Illinois College on the boards, 40-40.