The Monmouth College women's basketball team led for three quarters of the regular season finale on Sunday but ultimately lost at Lawrence 68-54. The Scots (13-9, 10-6) finished in second place in the Midwest Conference and will play in the tournament semifinals on Friday against Knox.

After a back-and-forth start, Monmouth pushed the lead to 9-4 on a 3-pointer by Taraw Warner (Burlington, Iowa). Josie Morgan (Washington, Illinois) followed with consecutive 3-pointers and the Scots led by 11 with 2:42 to go in the first quarter. Zoie Wall (Peoria, Illinois) made a 3-pointer for an 18-7 lead but Lawrence finished on a 7-0 run. 

After Lawrence cut the lead to one, Kaitlyn Osmulski (Peoria, Illinois) scored the next five points for a 23-17 lead. The Vikings took a 24-23 lead before Lily Harlan (Washington, Illinois) scored on her own putback. Jordan Kintigh (Goshen, Indiana) scored and Morgan made another 3-pointer for a 30-25 Scots lead. Lawrence tied the game at 30 before Warner hit a 3-pointer on the last possession of the half for a 33-30 Monmouth lead. 

Monmouth pushed the lead to five points twice in the third quarter and eventually led by nine when Kintigh scored at the 4:20 mark. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and Morgan's layup with 11 seconds left gave the Scots a 53-44 lead after three quarters.


That basket by Morgan to end the third was the final bucket for the Scots on the day. Monmouth went 0-for-12 from the field in the fourth quarter, 0-9 from 3-point range. The lone point in the quarter came on a free throw by Harlan with 4:51 left to give the Scots a 54-52 lead. Lawrence took the lead with 3:58 to play and ended the game on a 16-0 run.

Morgan, Kintigh and Warner each had 11 points while Osmulski finished with 10. Kintigh led the Scots with 12 rebounds while Morgan had five assists. 

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: With 10 points, Osmulski now has 34 career games in double digit scoring, tied for 20th on the career list…With three 3-pointers made, Morgan is now ninth on the single-season list with 51, passing Julie Schroeder (1992)...She is also tied for sixth in attempts with 146, matching Tina Forth from 1993…Morgan has 17 games of at least 10 points this season, tied for 20th on the single-season list…Kintigh has seven double-doubles on the season…With the No. 2 seed in the conference, Monmouth will face No. 3 Knox at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal at Ripon…The winner advances to Saturday's championship game against either No. 1 Ripon or No. 4 Illinois College…Monmouth and Knox split this season with both teams winning on the road…The rivals have never met in a MWC Tournament game…Monmouth is 9-5 in their MWC Tournament history.