Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire overcame big deficits in both halves and beat Beloit College 100-90 in a Midwest Conference game on Saturday at Memorial Gym.

The win was the second in the last three games for Knox (2-5, 2-3 MWC) while the Buccaneers lost their sixth straight.  The Prairie Fire has beaten Beloit (1-6, 0-4 MWC)  three straight times, including a 114-100 victory last January at home when Knox set a record for points scored in a game.  The 114 points broke the previous all-time high of 102, also against Beloit.

The Bucs scored 11 of the first 16 points 3:30 into the game.  The Prairie Fire followed with an 8-2 run to force a 13-13 tie at the 14:49 mark.  First-year Alycia Webster (Allen Park, MI, Melvindale) and junior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) combined to score six of the eight points for Knox.

Beloit scored eight unanswered points over the next 2:43 to take a 21-13 lead with 12:06 in the first half.  The Prairie Fire matched the Bucs with its own 8-0 run in a span of just 1:12 to tie the game at 21-21 at 10:54.  Heckman added another 3-pointer during the run and senior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) hit a jumper and a free throw.

Beloit gained some separation from Knox over the next 3:30 by scoring 12 of the next 15 points for a 33-24 lead.  Lauren McNanna, who had a big night for the Bucs, scored six points during Beloit’s run.  The Buccaneers extended their advantage to double-figures, 37-27, with about 5:00 left in the half.  A 6-1 run gave Beloit its biggest lead of the game at 43-28 a little over 3:00 before the break.

The Prairie Fire closed the half by scoring 11 of the last 16 points and trailed 48-39.

The Buccaneers shot 58% in the first half and sank 10-of-16 free throws.  Knox stayed within striking distance despite shooting a chilly 28% from the floor and missing 10-of-18 free throw attempts.  The Prairie Fire hit five 3-point shots and forced 19 turnovers by Beloit, which didn’t attempt a shot outside the 3-point line.

The Bucs scored the first five points of the second half to regain a double-figure lead at 53-39.  Beloit extended its lead to 16 on two occasions, 67-51 at the 14:21 mark and 69-53 with 13:49 remaining in the game.

Knox made its move over the next 7:00, going on a 22-6 run and tying the Buccaneers at 75-75 with 6:37 to play in the contest.  McDonald scored the first four points of the Prairie Fire’s offensive spurt.  Six other players scored points for Knox during the run, including sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) – who contributed the last five on a jumper and a 3-point basket in a span of 26 seconds.

Beloit took the lead back at 77-76 and 79-78 before sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) swished a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:28 left in the game to give the Prairie Fire the lead for good at 81-79.

The Knox advantage grew to nine at 91-82 with 2:20 remaining when sophomore Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) scored five straight points on a pair of free throws and a big 3-pointer after the Bucs had trimmed the lead to 86-82 with 3:00 in the contest.

The closest Beloit got from that point was 92-88 at the 1:13 mark.  The Prairie Fire made eight straight free throws to seal the victory.

While free throw shooting wasn’t kind to Knox in the first half, it got better in the second half as the hosts outscored the Bucs by 12 points at the foul line over the final 20 minutes and by 10 in the game. 

The Prairie Fire made 18-of-26 free throws (69%) in the second stanza and 26-of 44 (59%) overall.  The Buccaneers shot 6-of-10 (60%) from the stripe in the second half and 16-of-26 (61%) in the game.

Knox also shot better in the second half, 18-of-41, improving to 44%.  The Fire hit 31-of-87 shots overall (36%), including 12-of-43 from 3-point range (28%).  Beloit connected on 18-of-41 shots in the second half, dropping off to 44%, and finished the game 37-of-74 (50%).  The Bucs did not make a 3-point basket in four attempts.

The win was the first at home this season for Knox, which also reached 100 points for the first time this season.  Six players scored in double-figures for the Prairie Fire.   

Webster had 16 points and seven rebounds while Marver also scored 16 points for Knox.  Marver has scored 11 or more points in five of the six games she’s played in this season and is averaging nearly 16 points per game in her last four.  Howard, who made four 3-pointers, added 14 points and six rebounds.  McDonald, Duffy, and Heckman each had 12 points, a career-high for Heckman.  Duffy led the team with five assists and four steals.

McNanna scored a game-high 30 points for Beloit.  Lana Wieseman had a double-double for the Bucs with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

The Prairie Fire takes on Midwest Conference rival Monmouth College on December 16 at 3:00 p.m. on the Fighting Scots’ home floor.  Monmouth (8-0, 4-0 MWC) won its eighth straight game on Saturday with a 62-45 victory at home against Carroll University (3-3, 2-1 MWC).  The Scots are ranked #24 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball poll.

The game between Knox and Monmouth will be streamed live on the Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/monmouth.portal# beginning at 2:50 p.m.

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