Basketball Recap: Madison Morgan's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Lacrosse over Ellis

On Tuesday, the LaCrosse Leopards were within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 40-35 to the Ellis Railroaders.

LaCrosse lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Madison Morgan, who went 6 for 15 on her way to 16 points and four steals. Morgan is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Molly Showalter, who posted 12 points.

Even though they lost, LaCrosse smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Ellis' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Natalee North, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards. With that strong performance, North is now averaging an impressive 2.3 blocks per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Isabella Eck, who put up 16 points in addition to six rebounds and five assists.

LaCrosse's loss dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Ellis, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 5-3.

LaCrosse will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on St. John at 6:00 p.m. on January 28th. Ellis has already played their next matchup (against Thomas More Prep-Marian), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.