Lady Railers stage late comeback and defeat Galesburg 47-41

[January 17, 2022] Lincoln hosted Galesburg at Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon as part of the Downstate Classic and the Lady Railers extended their winning streak to eleven games with a 47-41 win over the Silver Streaks. 

With the Lady Railers having less than 24 hours to turn around and play again after the big win on Friday night over Mattoon, the girls had to be tired and honestly they found themselves in a hole early against a feisty Galesburg team. 

The Silver Streaks took a 10-4 lead over Lincoln early in the game. Six consecutive points from Kloe Froebe would tie the game at 10-10 and with under :15 seconds left in the first quarter, the Lady Railers would take the lead. Froebe’s bucket put Lincoln in front 12-10 and then a steal by Taryn Stoltzenburg gave Lincoln another scoring opportunity. Stoltzenburg was quick to find Becca Heitzig open and Heitzig tossed in a basket ahead of the buzzer to give Lincoln the 14-10 advantage after one quarter of action.

It took the Silver Streaks a matter of seconds to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter. Baskets by Stoltzenburg and Heitzig put the Lady Railers on top 18-14. Lincoln managed to maintain a two-point lead until a three by Galesburg put the Silver Streaks up 23-22 with under :30 seconds to play. Imagin Werner’s free throw tied the game and with the Silver Streaks having what looked like the last possession of the quarter, they turned the ball over. So with 2.4 seconds on the clock the Lady Railers inbounded the ball under the Silver Streaks basket and Kloe Froebe quickly made a few dribbles up the court and tossed up a long three as the buzzer went off. Froebe’s release was just in time and the ball swished through the net and just like that the tie was broken. Lincoln trotted off to the locker room having earned the 26-23 halftime lead. 

Galesburg switched up their game plan against Lincoln in the third quarter and it worked pretty well for a while. One layup after another was scored by the Silver Streaks on the fast break and in the blink of an eye Galesburg was up 29-26. While Lincoln was able to tie the game at 31-31, the Silver Streaks ran out to a lead again, this time 35-31 was the score. Just before the third quarter came to a close, Froebe would get fouled shooting a three and she managed to sink all three shots from the free throw line to bring Lincoln back to within a point, 35-34 the score.

The final quarter brought plenty of action and drama to Neil Alexander Court. The Silver Streaks took a 39-34 lead and Lincoln was scrambling to score with very little luck. Finally Froebe hit a three but the Silver Streaks lead was still 41-37 as the 4:00 mark approached. Two free throws by Bowman would inch the Lady Railers closer and then a basket by Froebe tied the game 41-41 with two minutes left in the game. What happened next was a bit confusing, but the end result was a Galesburg player was called for “breaking the plane” while Lincoln was trying to inbound the ball. A technical foul was called on Galesburg and Lincoln sent Froebe to the line to shoot two. Froebe made one shot to give Lincoln a 42-41 lead.

With Lincoln also getting possession of the ball and the Silver Streaks badly wanting the ball, a Galesburg player then proceeded to follow Froebe and give her a pretty good shove around the half court line. This move resulted in an intentional foul and gave Froebe another shot at the free throw line, but not before a Galesburg fan was removed from the gym. When Froebe did step to the line, she made one of the shots and Lincoln was up 43-41. Down the stretch the Silver Streaks fouled repeatedly and with Lincoln’s Stoltzenburg and Froebe making a combined 4-of-4 from the line, the Lady Railers lead grew to 47-41. The Silver Streaks had two attempts at the end of the game to score and missed each one and this allowed Lincoln to take the win by the final score of 47-41. 

A 10-0 run in the final four minutes of the game was certainly sweet and the Lady Railers earned every point in what was yet another hard-fought battle on the court. 

Kloe Froebe led all scorers with 28 points. 

These Lady Railers are now 17-2 on the season.

Lincoln will travel to Mahomet-Seymour tonight to take on the Lady Bulldogs in an Apollo Conference matchup.

Lincoln will travel to Pana on Tuesday night. 

Scoring 

Lincoln 47

Froebe 28

Heitzig 6

T. Stoltzenburg 4

Bowman 4

McCuan 2

Robbins 2

Werner 1

Galesburg 41

Kilgore 18

Davidson 10

Lydic 6

Lingafelter 4

Nelson 3

[Teena Lowery]