After a string of four wins, the Bloomington Purple Raiders's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They took a 60-47 hit to the loss column at the hands of Canton. While losing is never fun, Bloomington can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while Canton is ranked 58th).
Several Purple Raiders players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Lauren Shuey, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and four steals. Shuey has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. Tina Lenard was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with two steals.
Canton's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Allison Wheeler led the charge by scoring 16 points along with seven rebounds and six steals. Wheeler is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 15 or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jena Goforth, who scored 17 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Bloomington's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 10-14. As for Canton, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 19-6 record this season.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Bloomington will face off against Urbana at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing isn't great for Urbana: they have been struggling with ten straight losses at home, while Bloomington has snatched up three consecutive wins on the road. As for Canton, they will challenge Dunlap at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
