Going into their final three games of the regular season, the Monmouth College women’s basketball squad needed to win-out in order to have a chance at making the Midwest Conference playoffs.

After getting off to a good start in their final three games by beating Illinois College on Feb. 16, Monmouth’s playoff dreams were shattered when they traveled to Grinnell College on Feb. 18. Monmouth also dropped their final game of the season on Feb. 20 against Lake Forest College.

The Scots had a balanced attack in their game against the Lady Blues, as four players scored in double figures. Monmouth was lead by junior Melissa Gorski, who was virtually unstoppable in the game, and scored a career-high 29 points. Gorski played a game-high 36 minutes in the game, and she shot 9-of-14 from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line. Gorski also grabbed seven rebounds in the contest, and she was named Midwest Conference Performer of the Week after her great performance.

Senior Ashley Yeast recorded another double-double, as she scored 15 points while pulling down 10 boards. Her 15 points moved her just 27 short of becoming the first Monmouth basketball player, men or women, to reach 1,000 points and rebounds in her career.

Other big contributors for the Scots were sophomores Elise Waldorf (13 points) and Lynsey Barnard  (11 points). Monmouth led almost the entire contest, but Illinois College used a run to come within two points with 10:39 remaining. The Scots used a 8-0 run in the next 2:23 to pull ahead for good, however, and went on to win by 10, 81-71.

Monmouth could not extend their win-streak when they traveled to Grinnell, Iowa, to take on Grinnell College on Feb. 18. Monmouth trailed the entire game, and Grinnell went on to win the game by 13, 70-57.

The loss came despite 14 points from Waldorf, 13 from Gorski and 10 from junior Tanesha Hughes. Yeast managed to grab seven ricochets off the backboard, but she was held to just two points, diminishing her chances to score 1,000 points in her college career.

In the final game of the season, Monmouth traveled to Lake Forest, Ill., and they could not stay close to the Foresters. Lake Forest has the second best record in the MWC, and they dominated the Scots from the beginning and went on to win, 68-48.

Yeast ended her fantastic collegiate career by scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Yeast finished with 1,008 career rebounds, putting her first among men or women in Monmouth College history. She was just 10 points shy of scoring 1,000 points, finishing with 990. Waldorf was the only other Scot to score in double figures, with 10 points.

Waldorf said she thought the Scots played better  this  season than their record indicates, and despite not making the playoffs.

“I feel that the season went a lot better than our record showed,” Waldorf said. “We had our ups and downs, but we have made a lot of improvements since last season. There were times when we played very well, both defensively and offensively, it’s just a matter of putting it all together and being consistent.”

Yeast is the only senior on the team; so, the youthful team has a lot of promise for future seasons.

With a core of Waldorf, Gorski, Barnard and Hughes, the Scots should be competitive against any team in the MWC next year.

“My goal for next season is to make it to playoffs and play up to our potential,” Waldorf said. “We’re only losing one senior, while some of the top teams in the league are losing four or five key players. We have a lot of talented athletes on our team—there’s no reason we shouldn’t be at the top of our conference.”

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