Geneva 46, Sycamore 20

Here's one of those quirky statistics you don't come across too often -- Geneva's girls basketball team was held scoreless throughout the entire fourth quarter Wednesday night.

It didn't matter.

By that point, the Vikings (18-5, 11-1) had already built a commanding 46-14 lead on their way to a 46-20 victory over visiting Sycamore (4-18, 0-12) in Western Sun Conference action.

"We had a lot of shots in that (fourth) quarter that bounced in and out," said Vikings coach Gina Nolan.

The first 3 quarters definitely belonged to the Vikings, who held the Spartans to single-digit point production in all 4 periods.

"We just wanted to play our game," said Nolan, whose team forced 33 turnovers -- 21 of them coming in the first half as the Vikings exploded to a 32-10 advantage. "That's what we talked about coming in -- just playing hard and working on the things that we thought we had to work on."

Sophomore forward Lauren Wicinski scored 8 of her 14 points during the Vikings' 17-6 first-quarter surge.

"We knew we had to come out hard," said Wicinski, who added a game-high 8 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. "It's real important to get off to a nice start."

Geneva, which also received 14 points, 6 steals and 5 rebounds from junior guard Taylor Whitley, put the game out of reach with a 12-0 run during the middle of the third quarter.

Wicinski, who keyed the Vikings' 39-26 rebounding edge, scored both of her third-quarter baskets off the offensive glass.

"It just worked out that way," Wicinski said. "I got open (underneath) and had a lot of putbacks."

Kelsey Augustine and Emily Hinchman chipped in with 6 and 5 points, respectively, as the Vikings kept pace atop the Western Sun (tied with Batavia).

"We control our own destiny," said Nolan. "We've got two huge games coming up (at DeKalb Friday and vs. Batavia Feb. 8).

"But we're not even thinking about next Friday, we're just thinking about the day after tomorrow -- the 1st (of February) and going to DeKalb. It's a tough place to play. It'll be a good battle."

Anna Buzzard led Sycamore with 10 points.