(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 5)—Senior guard Katie Hasheider (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) drilled a three-pointer with 56 seconds remaining to help the McKendree College women’s basketball team past Millikin University on Tuesday in Lebanon, 68-63.

 

McKendree improved to 6-3 overall and kept its perfect home record intact at 4-0. The Bearcats will be on the road Thursday in Parkville, Mo., to face Park University in a non-conference game beginning at 7 p.m.

 

Senior forward Emily Hart (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) scored a game-high 23 points for McKendree as she moved into fourth place on the Bearcats’ all-time scoring list. Hart now has 1,544 points and took over fourth from Kari Crnkovich, who netted 1,532 points at McKendree from 1992-96.

 

McKendree jumped out to a 13-3 lead before Millikin used a 9-2 spurt to pull within 15-12. The Bearcats quickly built the lead to 32-21 with four minutes left in the period and took a 35-29 lead into the locker room.

 

The Bearcats’ last double-digit lead of the night came at 46-36 on a basket and free throw by Hart with 13:08 remaining. Millikin began to chip away at the deficit and grabbed a 57-56 lead on a three-pointer by Ricki Dorsett with 3:47 on the clock. The teams exchanged leads before another three-pointer by Dorsett gave the Big Blue its last lead of the night, 62-61, with 1:16 left. Hasheider hit her trey on McKendree’s next possession, and the Bearcats never trailed after that.

 

Junior forward Heather Elders (Energy, Ill./Herrin) (Energy, Ill./Herrin) and sophomore guard Kelsey Park (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) each hit a pair of free throws in the final 24 seconds to help McKendree pull away for the victory.

 

Hasheider finished with 11 points, while Elders and sophomore forward Emily Best (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) (Worden, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) each connected for eight points. Park dished out a team-leading five assists for McKendree.

 

Lindsay Ippel had a team-high 22 points along with seven rebounds for Millikin (3-2) while Dorsett came off the bench to add 13 points.