FAYETTE, Iowa - The Upper Iowa women's basketball team (7-4, 3-0 GLVC) fell to a red-hot Lake Superior State (Mich.) team (3-7), 65-62, in a back-and-forth battle on Saturday. With the loss, Upper Iowa's win streak ends at six, tying for the second-longest in program history (1999-2000).
With UIU leading 62-59 in the final minute, Lake Superior State's Grace Bradford hit a jumper in the paint, cutting the Peacock lead to one. An illegal screen by the Peacocks gave the Lakers a chance to take the lead. Bradford took advantage and converted once again, backing her way down to the paint for the score with five seconds left.
On the next possession, the Peacocks found Ellie Foster down low. Her turnaround jumper was blocked by Lake Superior's Seyanne Matthew, leading to made free throws. Bryar Duwe had one last chance to tie on a 3-pointer but didn't convert.
The first quarter of the game was sluggish as the Lakers held an 11-9 advantage after it. UIU shot 4-of-11 (36.4%) with six turnovers in the first 10 minutes. LSSU shot 5-of-18 (27.8%) with four turnovers.
The Peacocks got rolling in the second quarter, outscoring the Lakers 23-13 while shooting 50% (8-of-16) from the field. An Ava Privet 3-pointer, Josie Foster jumper in the paint and a Lindsey Davis 3-pointer gave Upper Iowa a 27-17 lead midway through it. UIU led 32-24 at halftime.
Lake Superior State slowly closed the gap early in the third quarter. With UIU leading 40-35, Lara Aguzzi knocked down a 3-pointer for the Lakers. A Matthew and-1 after a Peacock turnover gave Lake Superior the lead, 41-40, with 2:50 in the quarter.
A Kendyl Lodermeier jumper in the paint and an Ellie Foster 3-pointer halted the Laker momentum for a bit, but Lake Superior State still held a 48-47 advantage heading into the final period. The Lakers outscored the Peacocks 24-15 in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter continued the back-and-forth play. Davis hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 while Ellie Foster knocked down a step-back 3-pointer to take a 55-54 lead. LSSU then took a 58-55 lead, but a technical foul allowed the Peacocks to hit a free throw and get a bucket from Ellie Foster to tie the game at 58-58.
After a Lake Superior free-throw, Davis hit a turnaround jumper in the paint to lead 60-59. Sydnee Nelson made her lone field goal of the game with a layup to extend the lead to 62-59 with 1:10 left.
Davis led the Peacocks with a season-high 15 points for the sophomore. She added six rebounds, three assists and a block while shooting 5-of-6 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. This was the seventh double-digit scoring game of her Upper Iowa career.
Ellie Foster and Lodermeier each finished with 12 points, as Lodermeier had the best shooting percentage on the team at 6-for-11 (54.5%). Privet scored 11 points with six rebounds and two assists.
Nelson and Kenzie Deaton each finished with five points and six rebounds. Nelson added three assists. Josie Foster recorded two points and a rebound. Duwe tallied three rebounds and an assist.
Bradford led the Lakers with 15 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Matthew also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Aguzzi scored 11 points with nine coming from behind the arc.
The Lakers finished the game 26-of-70 (37.1%) from the field, 5-of-21 (23.8%) from behind the arc and 8-of-10 (80%) from the charity stripe. The Peacocks shot 22-of-59 (37.%) with a 6-of-22 (27.3%) mark on 3-pointers and a 12-of-18 (66.7%) tally on free throws.
UIU had 17 turnovers while LSSU had 13, but the Lakers created more steals, 11-3. Those steals led to a 15-5 point advantage off of turnovers. The three steals tied a season-low for Upper Iowa this season.
The game featured 19 lead changes and six ties. UIU held the lead for 20:53 while LSSU had the lead for 11:43. Lake Superior held an eight-point advantage in the paint, 38-30. The Lakers have won three straight games after starting the season 0-7.
Upper Iowa finishes the nonconference season 4-4. The Peacocks will now shift their focus back to GLVC play after the holiday break with a game against Maryville (Mo.) (9-3, 3-1 GLVC). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, in St. Louis, Missouri.
