Box Score
A tough second half for the Prairie Fire turned a close game at the intermission into a lopsided win for Lake Forest College Tuesday night in Lake Forest, Illinois.
The Fire scored just 11 points in the second half and the Foresters (5-5, 3-2 MWC) ran away with a 77-45 victory. The loss was the fourth straight for Knox (3-9, 2-5 MWC), which stayed with Lake Forest throughout the first half.
The Prairie Fire sliced a seven point Lake Forest lead down to three at 37-34 when senior Jenny Haskell (Murphys, California) scored on a layup with 21 seconds left in the first half. The Foresters' Alex Messacar connected from three-point range just ahead of the halftime buzzer to give her team a 40-34 advantage at the break.
Lake Forest scored the first four points of the second half for a 44-34 lead at the 18:33 mark. A basket by junior Krystyna Williams (Evanston, Illinois) trimmed the LFC advantage to 47-39 with 16:19 to play. The Prairie Fire followed with a nearly six minute scoreless stretch that proved costly. The Foresters used an 11-0 run to go up 58-39 with a little over 11:30 to play.
Knox managed to get within 17 points (58-41) when junior Kelly Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois) connected on a jump shot a minute later. The Fire didn't score again until the 5:09 mark with Lake Forest leading 68-42.
After shooting 14-of-31 (45 percent) in the first half, the Prairie Fire hit just 4-of-23 shots in the second stanza and made 3-of-8 from the foul line. Knox wound up at 33 percent for the game and committed 27 turnovers. Lake Forest shot 50 percent in the first half and almost 43 percent overall, including 8-of-20 from three-point range (40 percent).
Messacar scored a game-high 21 points for the Foresters. Sam Schuring also had a strong effort with 15 points and nine assists.
Haskell led the Prairie Fire with 11 points. She also contributed six rebounds and two steals. Williams had eight points, six rebounds and four steals.
The Fire returns home to play back-to-back home games Friday night and Saturday afternoon. First up is Beloit College (3-7, 1-4, MWC), a recent 58-50 winner against Lawrence University. The Buccaneers' stopped a two-game slide with the victory. Friday's
tip-off at Memorial Gymnasium is at 5:00 p.m.
The Prairie Fire plays conference leader and #17 nationally ranked St. Norbert College (11-1, 7-0 MWC) Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Green Knights won the first match-up between the two squads 63-38 on December 11 in DePere, Wisconsin.
