ECC misses chance to clinch share of ISCC title
The road to the first league title in nine years got a little tougher for the Elgin Community College women’s basketball team Thursday night.
The Spartans (18-7, 10-2) fell to the host Prairie State Pioneers 62-59 in overtime. Elgin could have clinched a tie for the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference title with a victory.
With the score tied at 48 going into the extra frame, the Pioneers got their momentum going right away as they won the tip-off and scored on a basket by sophomore guard Giacana Ezell. The Pioneers then went on a 9-2 run to give them a commanding lead and despite 2 free throws from Spartans freshman guard Carly Saraceno and a last-second 3-pointer, the Pioneers held on to win and at least delay ECC’s potential share of the conference championship.
“It started with the tip-off,” said ECC coach Jerry McLaughlin. “They got the tip for a layup and that was it. We didn’t recover from that first basket.”
After trailing 27-19 to end the first half, the Spartans started the second half with a 10-0 run to take the lead, holding the Pioneers to no field goals in the first 8 minutes.
With Prairie State leading 45-43 with 2:15 to go, Spartans freshman forward Alex Dumoulin nailed a 3-pointer from the left side to put the Spartans back in front.
Pioneers sophomore guard Rebecca Dill answered with a basket and freshman center Danielle Zandstra notched a free throw shortly after, giving Prairie State a 2-point lead with 5 seconds left. Spartans sophomore guard and Hampshire alum Cassie Dumoulin scored on a layup at the buzzer to tie the score at 48 and force overtime.
“It’s up to the team,” said McLaughlin of the Spartans’ second-half performance. “I don’t think we played with any urgency in the first half. In the second half, we played with heart and leadership.”
Cassie Dumoulin led the Spartans with 26 points. Alex Dumoulin and Saraceno (11 points each) were also key contributors to the second-half comeback.
With crucial conference games next week against Morton and Lake County, McLaughlin knows the fate of the conference championship remains in his team’s hands.
“We’ve got to play team basketball,” he said. “We’ve got to play for 40 minutes. It’s up to them. They control their own destiny.”