Erin Lawless may have had a cold Tuesday, but the 6-foot-2-inch Fenwick senior felt all warm and fuzzy.
That’s because the No. 1 Friars opened their girls basketball season with a 69-50 victory over visiting Regina behind Lawless’ 24 points and eight rebounds.
“Our season doesn’t usually start this early, but we did OK,” the Purdue-bound forward said.
“OK” is one way of stating how the Friars, who had built a 23-point lead, fared against the No. 6 Panthers.
Breanne Smilie added 11 points and Brittany Johnson 10. Liz Marino only scored two points, but she led Fenwick with 10 rebounds.
“Their whole team is so individually talented, they were able to break us down off the dribble,” Regina coach Jim Russo said.
Russo’s best individual talent, 6-foot Christina Quaye, managed 22 points and six rebounds despite being in foul trouble the entire game. The game was tied at 11-11 when Quaye picked up her second foul with 3 minutes 45 seconds left in the first quarter.
Fenwick went on an 8-0 run and was never threatened as Regina managed to hit only 16-of-54 attempts from the field.
“We wanted to take away their perimeter shooting,” Fenwick coach Dave Power said. “Quaye’s a handful and she had a nice game. But we didn’t want anybody else to hurt us.”
— Alan Sutton
Marian Catholic 45, Lincoln-Way East 29: Lauren Lacey put in 18 points and Mary Basic added 11 for the No. 2 Spartans (1-0).
Jenna Rubino scored 13 points for Lincoln-Way East (0-1), which led 7-5 before Marian Catholic went on a 14-0 run to take the lead for good.
Maine West 58, Trinity 53: The Warriors (1-0) survived nine second-half lead changes to upend No. 7 Trinity behind Megan Brandt’s 21 points and Megan Edwards’ 18.
Brandt hit two fourth-quarter free throws to tie the game 49-49 before Maine West hit 9-of-10 from the line to seal the win.
Caprice Smith led all scorers with 22 points for Trinity (0-1).
Fremd 46, Evanston 44: Blair Lehman hit two free throws with less six seconds remaining to lift No. 19 Fremd. Lehman finished with 19 points to go with Nicole Rinaldi’s 13. Evanston’s Ariel Rogers scored 17, including the layup that tied it 44-44.
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Batavia 34, Lemont 33: Kristina Dredge had nine points to lead the Bulldogs (1-0) in the Suburban Prairie crossover.
Bishop McNamara 50, Beecher 35: The Fightin’ Irish (1-0) won behind Blair Bennett, who had five three-pointers to finish with 21 points.
Carver 43, Fenger 41: Kisha Lee had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Challengers (1-0).
DeKalb 52, Ottawa 48 (OT): Emily Anderson had 15 points and Porschea Tolbert added nine points as the Barbs (1-0) pulled out the victory. Tolbert’s three-pointer with 4 seconds left in regulation forced the overtime.
Fenton/Elk Grove tournament: Sophia Fuentes scored 12 points and Elizabeth Smith added 16 rebounds as Lane Tech (1-0) defeated Niles West 42-29.
Hinsdale South 63, Mt. Assisi 31: Aubrey Rauktys had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals to lead the Hornets (1-0).
Julian 49, Bowen 31: Shavonne Booth had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Jaguars.
Lake Forest Academy 50, Woodlands 49: Kat Krzynowek collected 13 points and nine rebounds for the Caxys (2-0, 1-0) in the Independent School League.
Reavis 50, Eisenhower 37: Karolina Ulinskas scored 13 points to lead the Rams (1-0).
Richards 64, Thornridge 54: Sarah Lerner’s 16 points paced the Bulldogs (1-0).
Rolling Meadows 60, Maine South 42: Jen Brown scored 29 points for the Mustangs (1-0).
St. Edward 51, Illinois Math and Science 44: Jessica Hart had 16 points as the Green Wave (1-0) broke open a close game with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Oak Lawn 55, Queen of Peace 40: The Spartans (1-0) rolled as Laurie Felton tallied 21 points and 15 rebounds.