Women's basketball falls to Milwaukee Tech, 76-72

A dominant performance by Destynia McGruder wasn't enough as Joliet Junior College women's basketball fell to Milwaukee Area Tech on Thursday, 76-72.

McGruder paced the Wolves offense with 25 points and pulling in 17 rebounds. She finished with three blocks, five assists and five steals.

"We played hard and the whole 40 minutes, we just couldn't close it out," she said. 

The Wolves were out-rebounded, 56-34, and finished shooting 35.6% from the floor. 

"A big part of that was not being able to rebound and giving too many second chance opportunities," McGruder said. "We have to get back to the drawing board."

Despite the loss, Wolves coach Shaun Sanderson was impressed with his team's performance even with JJC trailing by as much as 21 points at one time.

"I continue to see the improvement in our competitiveness," he said. "To be down by 21 and out rebounded by more than 20 yet still have an opportunity to tie or win the game in the closing minutes is unheard of. We have nothing to hang our head about."

The Wolves fall to 10-13 with just three games remaining. To make the postseason, the Wolves need to finish at .500 but JJC has a chance to close the season out right with those final games being home contests.

Next, the Wolves host Wilbur Wright on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m.