Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire overcame a big deficit against Grinnell College but couldn’t put the Pioneers away for good in a 78-75 Midwest Conference loss on Wednesday.

Grinnell (1-2, 1-0 MWC) used a 13-0 run to pull ahead of Knox 21-6 with 13:05 remaining in the first half.  The Prairie Fire responded in a big way by scoring 18 of the next 20 points to take a 24-23 lead on a pair of free throws by sophomore Brittney Price (Wyoming, IL, Stark County) at the 6:48 mark.

The game was close the rest of the half with four ties and four lead changes.  Sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg), who made five 3-point baskets in the contest, connected on a trey with a few seconds to go before halftime to give Knox (0-4, 0-2 MWC) a 43-40 lead at the break.

The Fire shot 36 percent in the first half, including six 3-point baskets, and made 9-of-10 free throws.  Grinnell hit 46 percent if its shots but struggled at the line, sinking just 4-of-11.

The Pioneers opened the second half with six straight points to reclaim the lead at 46-43.  Knox followed with five straight points to go up 48-46 before the Pioneers forced the seventh tie of the game at 48-48 with a little over 17:00 to play.

After three more ties and lead changes, Grinnell split two free throws for a 58-57 advantage with 10:42 left in the contest.  The Pioneers, who shot 59 percent in the second half, led by as many as nine points at 78-69 at the 3:08 mark. 

The Prairie Fire scored six straight points to make it a one possession game at 78-75.  Sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) missed two difficult 3-point attempts in the final 12 seconds and Grinnell escaped with its first victory of the season.

Knox struggled to make shots in the second half, connecting on 6-of-41 (15 percent) and 3-of-21 (14 percent) from 3-point range.  The Prairie Fire was able to stay close by canning 17 second half free throws and 26-of-33 (79 percent) overall while forcing 33 turnovers by the Pioneers.

Grinnell shot just 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the foul line in the game.

Howard led four Knox players in double-figure scoring with 17 points.  Marver had 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds, sophomore Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) added 12 points, and junior Grace Theisen (Minneapolis, MN, Southwest) finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Toluwaloju Alabi scored a game-high 26 points for Grinnell.

The Prairie Fire heads out on the road for the first time this season on Saturday against Lawrence University.  The tip-off is at 3:00 pm and the game will be streamed on the web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/midwest.portal#

Follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter