CHICAGO – On senior night, a pair of Illinois Institute of Technology seniors, Stephanie Herrera and Polina Ivanova, took charge in the closing two minutes scoring six of their team’s final nine points and beat the Lady Peregrines, 60-56, in the senior duo’s final home game of the season. The victory assured the Scarlet Hawks of not being shutout in the win column of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.The Lady Peregrines (6-22 overall, 1-10 CCAC) knotted the game at 49-49 when junior guard Krystal Rigoni (Portage) hit a baseline jumper with 3:50 left in regulation. But the Scarlet Hawks’ Herrera hit an 8-footer 15 seconds later for a 51-49 lead, one they never relinquished.

Trailing 59-52 with 53 seconds left, PUC’s Jessica Hamman (Highland) hit a field goal to draw within five points. The senior center finished the night with 13 points and was the leading rebounder in the contest collecting nine. She is eight shy of the 200 mark for the season, and is averaging 7.6 per game.

With 14.6 seconds remaining, forward Sara Keilman (Morton) hit her third basket of the night to close the gap to 60-56. A scrum developed on the inbounds pass between the two squads stopping action for a change of possession, which went to the Lady Peregrines. The identical situation happened when PUC tossed the ball inbounds. The two change of possessions killed off 11 seconds, and when the Scarlet Hawks finally put the ball in play, they eluded Lady Peregrine defenders and ran the clock out.

Junior Linsey Smith (Lake Central) once again led the Lady Peregrines scoring 15 points, including three from 3-point land. The guard is averaging 11.9 points per game to lead the squad. Sophomore LaKeisha Hurst (Dover, Del.) also scored double digits finishing with 10 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Midway through the first half, the Lady Peregrines built a 10-point lead, 24-14, and had two of the Scarlet Hawks’ (5-23, 1-10) leading scorers benched in foul trouble. But with under six minutes left in the half, three consecutive PUC turnovers were converted into layups, and with 3:18 left in the first half the score was knotted at 24-24.

The Lady Peregrines held a 33-30 halftime lead and shot 44 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line and 80 percent from the charity stripe. In the second half, those numbers dipped; 37 percent from the field, 0 percent from the 3-point line and 50 percent from the charity stripe.

PUC hosts Saint Francis University on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. It’s the final home regular season game. Seeding for the CCAC tournament is Sunday to reveal where the Lady Peregrines will travel for the opening round of the tourney that begins Tuesday, Feb. 27.