APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University women's basketball team was good enough defensively to beat Lake Forest College on Wednesday night, but the Vikings endured a cold shooting night in a 59-47 Midwest Conference loss at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Lawrence forced 15 turnovers and limited Lake Forest to 31 percent shooting in the middle two quarters, but the Foresters pulled away over the final 10 minutes. The Vikings went 15-for-62 (24.2 percent) from the floor, including 18.5 percent from beyond the arc. 
    Ashley Batac came off the bench to score 13 points, and she grabbed six rebounds and picked up two assists for the Vikings (7-16, 3-11 MWC). Lydia Lueck added nine points and picked up three steals while doing stellar work against Lake Forest star Katie Neher. 
    Lueck limited Neher to 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting, but Neher did finish with a game-high 14 rebounds. Annie Lally led Lake Forest (8-13, 4-9) with 19 points.
    Lake Forest scored the game's first 10 points, but the Vikings battled back. Lawrence scored eight straight points with Sophie Morey getting a layup and Batac and Josie Eager hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the lead to 18-14. Morey finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
    The Forester responded by scoring the game's next six points and led 26-17 at the half. The Vikings scored the first three points of the second half to close to 26-20, but Lake Forest wouldn't let them get any closer. 
    Lake Forest later led by 17 in the third quarter before the Vikings closed to 40-31 with eight straight points, including four by Batac. The Foresters quickly pushed the lead back to double digits and never led by less than 10 the rest of the way.