Women's basketball falls just short against Rock Valley, 65-64

With just under five seconds remaining and down by one, Olivia Rafalski forced a turnover near mid court and let off a shot at the buzzer. Unfortunately for the Wolves, it hit the rim.

The Joliet Junior College women's basketball team nearly completed the rally Thursday night at the JJC Event Center, but ultimately fell short as the Wolves (9-12) lost to Rock Valley, 65-64.

After leading at the end of the opening quarter, the Wolves fell behind and trailed at the half, 36-31. In the third, the Wolves trailed by as much as 14 points before making it a 53-49 game entering the fourth.

Freshman Lovely Tua-Link, who led the Wolves with 26 points, said that the game plan heading into the final 10 minutes was "just to finish this game out."

"We needed this," she said after the game. "This was a good fight no matter win or lose."

She finished the night 10-of-21 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. She sunk just two of her five 3-point attempts. 

Sophomore Kiyah Robertson finished with 15 points and Jazlynn Foster had 12 on a night when the Wolves shot 32% from the field. As a team, they went 11-of-15 at the free throw line. 

"Rock Valley's a good team," said Wolves coach Shaun Sanderson. "Over the years they've pretty much done the same thing. The key to this game was just to get back on defense. ... They tend to dribble through the press so I thought it was more important that we got back on D and force them to play a little offense."

The Wolves will host Black Hawk College-Moline on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will honor their sophomores before the game.