Sophomore Jessica Howard is the latest Prairie Fire Performer of the Week Award winner after she helped lead Knox past St. Norbert College 79-68 on January 26 at Memorial Gymnasium,
The win was the first for the Prairie Fire against the Green Knights. St. Norbert entered the game with a 29-0 all-time record against Knox in women’s basketball and in a tie for second place in the Midwest Conference standings.
Howard scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and she was 5-for-6 from the foul line.
Howard hit some clutch shots and free throws that were instrumental in the victory. She scored eight points during an 18-9 Prairie Fire run in the first half that tied the game at 27-27 after Knox trailed by as many as nine points.
Howard gave Knox its first lead of the game at 30-27 when she sank a 3-point basket 1:41 before halftime and added a jumper 45 seconds later that extended the Prairie Fire advantage to 34-28.
In the second half, Howard drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions that resulted in the biggest lead of the game for Knox at 62-50 with 8:08 to play. She came up big again with a 3-point play for a 69-60 lead at the 4:42 mark after St. Norbert whittled the Prairie Fire advantage down to six points at 66-60.
The Green Knights never got closer than six points the rest of the game.
Howard is second on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game. She’s been almost automatic at the free throw line, sinking 88 percent of her attempts. In addition, Howard is third in the Midwest Conference with 38 baskets from 3-point range and her 2.1 3-pointers per game also rank #3 in the league.
Howard is in the top 15 in the MWC in two other categories: 13th in 3-point shooting percentage (28.4) and 14th in steals per game (1.9).
