Senior Jessica Howard was lights out, hitting six 3-point baskets and scoring a game-high 24 points as Knox completed a first-ever women’s basketball season sweep of Ripon College with a 91-79 victory in the Senior Day game on February 21 at Memorial Gym.
Howard drilled 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range and scored 19 points in the first half against the Red Hawks. She came up big with back-to-back 3s to give Knox a seven point lead after Ripon had sliced a double-digit deficit to 32-31 with 5:29 left. The Prairie Fire closed the half on a 16-2 run and led 56-38 at the break.
Howard turned the Red Hawks away again in the second half. Her 3-pointer with 10:27 to play gave her team some breathing room, extending a five point lead to eight. Knox regained a 10 point advantage less than five minutes later and never looked back.
Along with six 3-pointers, Howard sank all six of her free throw attempts, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded two steals as Knox won its ninth Midwest Conference game of the season, the most since the 1996-97 team won 10.
Howard is the Knox women’s basketball all-time leader with 175 career 3-point field goals for an average of 2.54 per game. She finished second in the Midwest Conference with 60 3-pointers during the 2014-15 season after leading the league with 64 as a junior.
