Box Score

Grinnell, IA – The Prairie Fire made clutch free throws down the stretch and downed Grinnell College 104-99 in Midwest Conference play on Wednesday night.

Knox (3-9, 1-6 MWC) won its second straight game and ended a five game slide against the Pioneers.  The Prairie Fire hadn't defeated Grinnell since a 63-62 triumph at Darby Gym on December 8, 2010.

The Pioneers (1-10, 0-6 MWC) owned an 11-3 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the contest.  Knox trimmed the deficit to 11-9 one minute later on back-to-back 3-pointers by first-year Molly Lascelles (Ipava, IL, VIT) and junior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg).

Grinnell held the Prairie Fire to nine points over a nearly six minute stretch and built its biggest lead of the game at 27-18 with 8:20 left in the first half.

A 3-pointer by sophomore Jamie Blue (Urbana, IL, University) capped a 13-2 run that gave Knox its first lead, 31-29, at the 5:32 mark.

Three ties and five lead changes later, another trey by Blue allowed the Prairie Fire to reclaim the lead at 42-40 with 2:48 to go.

Knox extended the advantage to 48-44 at halftime.

The Prairie Fire shot 30 percent in the first half, but eight of their 12 baskets were 3-pointers.  Knox also connected on 16-of-22 free throws while the Pioneers turned the basketball over 19 times.

Grinnell was able to stay close by shooting 59 percent.

Knox built the lead to 60-52 on a layup by senior Grace Theisen (Minneapolis, MN, Southwest) with 16:34 remaining, but the Pioneers refused to go away.

Grinnell outscored the Prairie Fire 23-12 over the next 8 1/2 minutes for a 75-72 lead.  Junior Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) forced the seventh tie of the game at 75 when she drilled a 3-pointer with 7:53 left in regulation.

Grinnell scored on its next possession to go up 77-75, the last time Knox trailed in the contest.

The Prairie Fire scored the next five points, four of them by Theisen, for an 80-77 advantage.  Knox increased the lead to 92-83, the biggest of the game, when Lascelles again found the mark from behind the 3-point line with 4:40 to play.

An 8-2 run cut the Knox lead to 94-91 with a little over 2:00 left, but the Prairie Fire sank 10-of-12 free throws the rest of the way to earn the victory.

Knox improved to 47 percent shooting in the second half and finished at 38 percent.  The Prairie Fire knocked down 13 buckets from 3-point distance and made 33-of-43 free throws.

Grinnell shot 56 percent overall but was outscored by 10 at the foul line and committed 31 turnovers.

Marver, who was 9-of-12 at the free throw line, led six Knox players in double-figure scoring with 23 points.  Senior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) followed with 15 points, Theisen had 13, Howard 12, while junior Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) and Lascelles chipped in with 10 points apiece.  Marver and Howard shared team-high honors with six rebounds apiece.

Anne Boldt paced Grinnell with 24 points.

Knox returns home for a Midwest Conference game against Illinois College (7-4, 5-1 MWC) on January 14 at 7:30 p.m.

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