Monmouth will be headed to the championship game of the Midwest Conference Tournament after a convincing 66-58 semifinal win over Lake Forest.
 
The Scots advanced to the title tilt for the fifth time in six tries after opening up a 41-16 first half lead over Lake Forest. Monmouth held the Foresters to just 5-of-27 from the floor over the first two quarters but found the scoring hard to come by after the break.
 
Lake Forest rallied in the second half as Monmouth went cold, hitting only five of their 21 second half shots, but had enough of a cushion to fend off the Foresters' charge. Trailing 54-37 after three quarters, the Foresters roared back, cutting the margin to single digits in the final minute. A Forester layup with 22 seconds left closed the gap to 63-58 before Shayne Smith was sent to the free throw line and connected on three of her four trips to give Monmouth their 19^th win of the season and pull within one victory of the program record.
 
Carley Turnbull led the Scots with a game-high 26 points while Kaitlyn Osmulski netted 14.
 
Monmouth will face host Ripon – a 44-40 winner over St. Norbert – Saturday at 3 p.m. for the tournament title and automatic NCAA Tournament berth.