West Chicago hands Rams first loss of season

After a bad start to the first quarter Thursday night at West Chicago, Glenbard East had plenty of time to battle back into this girls basketball game.

But after a bad start to the fourth quarter, the previously unbeaten Rams ran out of luck and time while the host Wildcats opened up their portion of the DuPage Valley Conference season with an impressive 57-45 victory.

The Wildcats (4-3, 1-0) jumped ahead 10-0 behind a pair of baskets from center Chrissie Rovtar and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Claire Monroe. But the Rams (6-1, 1-1), who had knocked off Naperville Central two nights earlier to open their league slate, tied the game at 16-all following a pair of free throws by Jackie Foreman midway through the second quarter. Then, after three quarters of play, the hosts led Glenbard East just 33-32.

But that's when another quarter-opening 10-0 run allowed the Wildcats to retake command of the game and this time the Rams would not recover.

"Coach pointed out that we needed to play four quarters of defense and that if we did that, the offense would come," said Rovtar, who finished with a game-high 19 points, including 7 in the decisive fourth quarter. "We definitely played together. For us to beat them after their big win (Tuesday) is exciting."

Each team committed 8 turnovers during a sloppy third quarter, but the Rams outscored West Chicago 12-7 to pull within a single point heading into the fourth. Guard Kelsey Taylor, who paced the Rams with 15 points, dropped in a 3-pointer to close the quarter with the Wildcats ahead 33-32.

But West Chicago opened the fourth with a layup from Monroe, a putback from Rovtar, a pair of foul shots from Katie Staiton, and then a three-point play from Staiton to take a 42-32 lead. Rams coach Nicole Miller called a timeout with 5:01 left to play, but the visitors would get closer than to within 5 points the rest of the night.

"It was just a shaky game," Miller said. "I thought that West Chicago did a nice job. They outhustled us, outrebounded us - they did what they needed to do."

Foreman wound up with 8 points and 11 rebounds, but Emily Paschke and her West Chicago teammates held the veteran Rams leader without a field goal the entire night.

"I'm real proud of the way my team matched up with them," West Chicago coach Kim Wallner said. "Emily and even some other smaller girls did a nice job defensively (on Foreman). I'm happy to get this one and we'll keep trying to get better."