Grinnell College's women's basketball team hung with nationally-ranked Lake Forest College in the first half of Saturday's game, but the Foresters then pulled away to remain unbeaten in the Midwest Conference with a 76-48 victory at Darby Gymnasium.

Lake Forest, ranked 21st in the latest USA Today/ESPN poll, is 4-0 in the league while improving to 10-1 overall. Grinnell fell to 0-4 in MWC play and 2-9 in all contests.

The Foresters, who never trailed, bolted out to a 30-16 lead in the first half before Grinnell stormed back within seven at 33-26 at the 2:37 mark. Mallory Scharf '11 had a field goal and two free throws during the run, Hannah Wolf '08 drained a 3-pointer, Kate Norton '11 added a bucket and Jessica Shotts '10 sank a free throw.

Grinnell was still within seven a bit later at 35-28 thanks to a pair of free throws by Scharf, but Lake Forest closed out the half with a slight run to lead 39-28 at intermission.

The Pioneers whittled away at the Forester lead early in the second half, as an 8-2 run made it 41-36 at the 15:12 mark. Scharf and Miki Nakamura '10 both had treys during the spurt and Jessica Vaverka '11 added a basket. But then Lake Forest delivered the big hit with a 19-0 run for a 60-36 lead with 10:15 left. From there the visitors would coast to the victory.

Scharf turned in a game-high 16 points for Grinnell, while Wolf had 13 points, six rebounds and two steals and Norton grabbed four boards. Beth Lucas led Lake Forest with 14 points.

Grinnell's next two games are on the road, as the Pioneers play at Lawrence University at 5:30 p.m. next Friday and Beloit College at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Pioneers' next home games are Jan. 25 and 26 against Ripon College and Lawrence, respectively.
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